HRI SURF Program Information

Program Provisions

What is included in the program?

$4,000 stipend
On-campus housing
Meal plan
Airfare
Professional development activities
Local excursions

What does the typical program timeline look like?

Check out the HRI SURF 2025 Guide and Schedule to see an example of what the timeline could look like and the fellowship experience overall.

Faculty Information

The participating faculty profiles and their research interest areas are displayed below:

Applied Computing

Weihua Zhou

whzhou@mtu.edu
906-487-2666

Areas of Expertise

Image Processing and Computer Vision
Machine Learning
Medical Image Analysis
Health Informatics
Text Mining

Researcher Profile

Biomedical Engineering

Sangyoon Han

sjhan@mtu.edu
906-487-2897

Research Interests

Mechanobiology
Traction force by a living cell
Cell adhesion and migration
Image data modeling
Machine learning
BioMEMS

Researcher Profile

Chemistry

Xiaochu Ding

xding@mtu.edu
906-487-2865

Research Interests

Design, synthesis and characterization of polymeric biomaterials to engineer elastomers, hydrogels, and nanomaterials
Biomaterials/cell interactions and biological properties in vitro and in vivo
Synthetic vascular grafts and drug delivery systems for arterial regeneration and ischemia

Researcher Profile

Shiyue Fang

shifang@mtu.edu
906-487-2023

Research Interests

Organic Synthesis
Nucleic Acid and Peptide Chemistry
Organometallic Chemistry
Mechanochemistry
Epigenetics and Chemical Biology
Antisense Drug

Researcher Profile

Ashutosh Tiwari

tiwari@mtu.edu
906-487-1840

Research Interests

Identify experimental conditions that can generate diverse aggregated protein structures from the same proteins.
Develop novel tools and techniques to differentiate amongst the varied aggregated species of proteins.
Understand the relationship between aggregated protein species and its associated cellular toxicity.

Researcher Profile

Chemical Engineering

Aytug Gencoglu

agencogl@mtu.edu
906-487-1787

Researcher Profile

Maria Gencoglu

mgencogl@mtu.edu
906-487-3488

Research Interests

Cancer tissue engineering
Cellular processes to understand diseases
Scaffold-based disease modeling
Organoid engineering

Researcher Profile

Caryn Heldt

heldt@mtu.edu
906-487-1134

Research Interests

Bioseparations
Virus removal and detection
Biosensors

Researcher Profile

Psychology and Human Factors

Erich Petushek

ejpetush@mtu.edu
906-487-3204

Research Interests

Human-Centered Design and Usability in Health
Decision-Making, Injury Prevention, and Recovery
Evidence Synthesis and Data-Driven Insights

Researcher Profile

Kevin Trewartha

kmtrewar@mtu.edu
906-487-3206

Research Interests

Cognitive Aging
Cognitive Neuroscience
Motor Learning
Sensorimotor Control
Memory
Cognitive Control

Researcher Profile

Who are the participating faculty in this program?

Participating, Faculty, and Areas of Study:

Dr. Xiaochu Ding, Chemistry - Biodegradable polymers for heart disease implants
Dr. Sangyoon Han, Biomedical Engineering - Mechanobiology and cellular force measurement
Dr. Caryn Heldt, Chemical Engineering - Vaccine manufacturing and stability
Dr. Shiyue Fang, Chemistry - Nucleic acid chemistry and organic synthesis
Dr. Aytug Gencolgu, Chemical Engineering - In vitro models of cell "taxis"
Dr. Maria Gencoglu, Chemical Engineering - Scaffold-based 3D cellular models for cancer tissue engineering
Dr. Erich Petushek, Psychology and Human Factors - Sport injury rehabilitation and recovery
Dr. Kevin Trewartha, Psychology and Human Factors - Changes in cognition and motor behavior in dementia and healthy aging
Dr. Ashutosh Tiwari, Chemistry - Chemistry-Aggregated proteins and cellular toxicity: What is the connection?
Dr. Weihua Zhou, Applied Computing - Artificial intelligence to measure coronary blood flow for improved treatment of coronary artery disease

What should I do if my area of interest is not covered by the participating faculty?

If a faculty member or area of interest is not listed here, please fill out the application form and put the faculty name and/or topic of interest when prompted. More information on faculty and their research areas can be found at these links: