Bioengineering graduate takes off at Rocket Lab
When Alex Anderson was a teenager growing up in Waiuku, he read a lot of science fiction and dreamt of one day building futuristic things like robots.
Today Alex has arguably done even better than that. The 30-year-old Mt Eden resident who graduates from the University of Aucklands Bioengineering Institute with a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, is now building rockets for a living.
Its a dream job, he says of his role with Rocket Lab.
Rocket Lab is a US company with a base of operations in New Zealand.
They are developing launch vehicles to put small satellites into space, explains Alex. These satellites traditionally have to compromise on orbit to ride share with larger satellites.
Rocket Labs Electron will lower the barrier to commercial space by offering frequent and cheap launches direct to orbit from the Mahia Peninsula on the North Islands East Coast.
Alex is a vehicle test engineer with Rocket Lab and says his role involves testing all the various components and systems which make up a launch vehicle and feeding the results of those tests back to the designers.
He has drawn on his general engineering background in instrumentation and electronics, as well as the training hes received in scientific method (for example striving for rigorous tests) to do his job.
Alex is a good example of how transferrable Bioengineering skills can be to a broad range of industries and applications, says his PhD supervisor Associate Professor Andrew Taberner.
For his PhD, Alex developed a new scientific instrument for studying tissue extracted from a living heart. In this device, a pulse of electricity causes calcium ions to be released into living muscle cells. This stimulates the cells to shorten, change shape, release heat and perform work.
Alex's instrument is the first to allow all of these events to be observed together, says Associate Professor Taberner. It will enable a deeper study of the relationships between the systems driving the heart, in health and disease.
http://www.abi.auckland.ac.nz/
http://www.abi.auckland.ac.nz/
Scoop Media
More here:
Bioengineering graduate takes off at Rocket Lab | Scoop News - Scoop.co.nz (press release)
- Pushing back against drug-resistant bugs - January 22nd, 2014 [January 22nd, 2014]
- Unlocking The Mysteries Of The Cuttlefish's Camouflage - January 30th, 2014 [January 30th, 2014]
- 'Milestone' Therapy Produces Leg Movement in Paraplegics - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Innovative new therapy offers new hope for paraplegics - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Spinal stimulation helps 4 patients with paraplegia regain voluntary movement - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Using gooey caps and Bluetooth to keep Parkinsons patients moving - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Bioengineering | Clemson University, South Carolina - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- The Bioengineering Group, Inc. - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Biological engineering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Bioengineering Unravels the Mysteries of Life by Dennis Bahr, PhD, PE - Video - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Bioengineering Degree Programs - Video - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- P-TECH schools slated to open in the mid-Hudson - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Stratospheric Aerosol Bioengineering - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- UCSD Bioengineering 20th Anniversary - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- The Alexander Grass Center for Bioengineering - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Adam Arkin receives DOEs Lawrence Award for synthetic biology work - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- Stanford scientists develop 'playbook' for reverse engineering tissue - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- Rice professors discuss research in campus TEDx event - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- Rice students work to bring deft touch to amputees - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- Africa: Citizen Scientists Pitch New Uses for Paper Microscope - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- Washington University students create medical innovations - April 24th, 2014 [April 24th, 2014]
- Stanford scientists create circuit board modeled on the human brain - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- After Vermont Bill, GMO Labeling Becomes Center Of Debate On Bioengineering's Future - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- Medical Bioengineering Device - Bone Marrow Extraction - Video - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- New Invention Ensures Infants Receive Nutrients From Mothers Milk - May 2nd, 2014 [May 2nd, 2014]
- Jasmin Joseph is El Camino Real's softball-playing future scientist - May 2nd, 2014 [May 2nd, 2014]
- Experiment grows new muscle in mens injured legs - May 2nd, 2014 [May 2nd, 2014]
- Section 2 Team 1 Bioengineering 401 Project - Video - May 4th, 2014 [May 4th, 2014]
- Bioengineering - Video - May 4th, 2014 [May 4th, 2014]
- CI BioEngineering Glucose Monitoring - Video - May 4th, 2014 [May 4th, 2014]
- Factors in Transit Bus Ramp Slope and Wheelchair-Seated Passenger Safety - May 8th, 2014 [May 8th, 2014]
- For engineering students, it's senior presentation time - May 9th, 2014 [May 9th, 2014]
- Disease Can Change Waters Molecular Structure Reports Water Researcher and Bio Logic Aqua Founder Sharon Kleyne - May 9th, 2014 [May 9th, 2014]
- Kauais lab superstar - May 9th, 2014 [May 9th, 2014]
- Vermont Governor Signs Nation's First Unconditional GMO Labeling Bill - May 9th, 2014 [May 9th, 2014]
- BioEngineering 20th Anniversary - Video - May 9th, 2014 [May 9th, 2014]
- True identity of med student 'Elizabeth Raine' who planned so sell her virginity to highest bidder - May 10th, 2014 [May 10th, 2014]
- 2014 Alumni Cup - Bioengineering Team - Video - May 10th, 2014 [May 10th, 2014]
- BioEngineering Inversina powder Blender - Video - May 11th, 2014 [May 11th, 2014]
- $1m boost for UQ plastics technology - May 14th, 2014 [May 14th, 2014]
- Bioengineering - The Next Golden Age: Prem Sehgal at TEDxYouth@DAA - Video - May 16th, 2014 [May 16th, 2014]
- Faces of UCR Bioengineering c/o 2014 - Video - May 16th, 2014 [May 16th, 2014]
- Stanford research leads to new understanding of how cells grow and shrink - May 18th, 2014 [May 18th, 2014]
- Conducting polymer films decorated with biomolecules for cell research use - May 20th, 2014 [May 20th, 2014]
- Tiny Sheep: UC Berkeley Researchers Use Electricity to Herd Cells and, Potentially, Speed Up Healing - May 21st, 2014 [May 21st, 2014]
- Faculty inspire Howard grads to pursue Ph.D. at UC San Diego - May 22nd, 2014 [May 22nd, 2014]
- Lely graduate's dual enrollment at FGCU gives her head start into bioengineering career - May 24th, 2014 [May 24th, 2014]
- Montgomery High grads to study bioengineering, business - May 24th, 2014 [May 24th, 2014]
- Bioengineering Professor Looks for Ways to Prevent Chronic Diseases Connected with Aging Through His Research on the ... - May 28th, 2014 [May 28th, 2014]
- PLTW students from Hamilton Career present research projects - May 28th, 2014 [May 28th, 2014]
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute awards Rice $1.9 million for STEM innovation - May 31st, 2014 [May 31st, 2014]
- New global maps of livestock distribution - May 31st, 2014 [May 31st, 2014]
- Clemson University 3-Minute Thesis 3rd Place (tie), 2014, Hobey Tam (Bioengineering) - Video - June 1st, 2014 [June 1st, 2014]
- Shruti Vasudev - Bioengineering - Video - June 5th, 2014 [June 5th, 2014]
- Vanguard grad is Stanford-bound - June 7th, 2014 [June 7th, 2014]
- Dental Innovation Forum 2014 - Scientific Session (II) : Bioengineering and Stem Cells - Video - June 12th, 2014 [June 12th, 2014]
- 4 Bioengineering Tools for Cardiovascular Applications October 18, 2011 - Video - June 12th, 2014 [June 12th, 2014]
- Bioengineering and chemical engineering building at Stanford named for gifts from Ram and Vijay Shriram - June 14th, 2014 [June 14th, 2014]
- The Fourth Phase of Water Dr. Gerald Pollack, UW Professor of Bioengineering, at TEDxGuelphU - Video - June 15th, 2014 [June 15th, 2014]
- 2014 Triton 5K Bioengineering - Video - June 15th, 2014 [June 15th, 2014]
- New Blood Test May Help Detect Heart Transplant Rejection - June 21st, 2014 [June 21st, 2014]
- MU engineering dean will step down from position Sept. 1 - June 21st, 2014 [June 21st, 2014]
- UPDATE: MU engineering dean will step down from position Sept. 1 - June 21st, 2014 [June 21st, 2014]
- Stanford bioengineers improve upon football mouthguard that senses head impacts - June 21st, 2014 [June 21st, 2014]
- Sensor In Eye Could Watch For Glaucoma And Track Pressure Changes - June 22nd, 2014 [June 22nd, 2014]
- Penn Bioengineering Class of 2014 Slideshow - Video - June 22nd, 2014 [June 22nd, 2014]
- UCSC student honored for designing cancer drug - June 23rd, 2014 [June 23rd, 2014]
- Scientists Find Brain Circuit That Controls Social Behavior - June 23rd, 2014 [June 23rd, 2014]
- xDoperunnerx - Bioengineering Disease - Video - June 23rd, 2014 [June 23rd, 2014]
- Bioengineer receives $2.9 million grant to improve brain implants - June 24th, 2014 [June 24th, 2014]
- Business Briefs: 6/24/14 - June 24th, 2014 [June 24th, 2014]
- Stanford scientists tie social behavior to activity in specific brain circuit - June 24th, 2014 [June 24th, 2014]
- New Stanford blood test identifies heart-transplant rejection earlier than biopsy can - June 24th, 2014 [June 24th, 2014]
- C.C. Chu honored for bioengineering research - June 26th, 2014 [June 26th, 2014]
- Trinity institute raises 36 million for research - June 27th, 2014 [June 27th, 2014]
- Mutilate! - The 41 Cucumbers of Bioengineering - Video - June 27th, 2014 [June 27th, 2014]
- NIH-funded researchers extend liver preservation for transplantation - June 29th, 2014 [June 29th, 2014]
- Donor organs stored for four days in transplant breakthrough - June 30th, 2014 [June 30th, 2014]
- Tiny 'Bio-Bots' Walk Using Real Muscle Tissue - July 2nd, 2014 [July 2nd, 2014]
- Candidates sought for study to improve lung treatment for elderly - July 3rd, 2014 [July 3rd, 2014]