AUA Students Research Efficient Respiratory Gear & Masks

Elizabeth Vickery (BSES ‘24) and Mariam Mkrtichyan (BSES ‘24)

Two undergraduate AUA students enrolled in the B.S. in Engineering Sciences program are currently conducting research through a collaboration between AUA and Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey. Elizabeth Vickery (BSES ‘24), recipient of the Professor Movses J. Kaldjian Memorial Scholarship, and Mariam Mkrtichyan, recipient of the ContourGlobal Hydro Cascade CJSC Scholarship, are supervised by Sargis Zeytunyan, lecturer at the Zaven and Sonia Akian College of Science and Engineering. 

The aim of the project is to design a machine that can assess the efficiency of cartridges in respiratory gear. Speaking on the need for increased research opportunities for students, Zeytunyan comments, “We need to have more faculty members involved in research who will work on different topics and involve students in their projects. Additionally, we need more laboratory facilities for engineering studies, as well as more collaboration with industry and university partners.”

Both Vickery and Mkrtichyan work as research assistants at ArmBionics, a biomedical engineering company that develops and manufactures customized upper-limb prosthetics. “Since we are in this field and passionate about gaining more experience in biomedical engineering, we decided to join this project. I am learning a lot in this process, especially in electronic and mechanical engineering.” 

The students have been working on the introductory phase of the project for the past three months and benefitting from collaboration with different institutes worldwide. Vickery explains that even though such machines currently exist, they are trying to design a more cost-effective variant for the marketplace. “Especially after experiencing the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s become clear that there is a very big gap for affordable machines that could test respirators and masks to ensure they are working properly. It’s not just about healthcare, there are users of respiratory gear who work in various factories or other environments, such as evacuators, rescuers, and firefighters. The product needs to be properly assessed to ensure its safety. Creating something more affordable, efficient and available worldwide could solve many problems in various sectors,” she adds. 

Both students also emphasize the importance of being involved in higher level research at this point in their undergraduate studies. “Research is one of those areas where you understand how your education impacts you and why you need to learn certain things. For example, when you learn math, it’s all very abstract. But when you do research, concepts become a lot clearer. It’s an invaluable experience. I believe you have to be engaged in all kinds of research projects to become a real expert,” Vickery says, with Mkrtichyan adding, “Research for me is very practical. You understand how to apply theoretical knowledge in real life projects.”