The projects for Tandon Honors students in the Global Leaders & Scholars in STEM program consists of a culmination of various experiences, research, and interests related to the Tandon Areas of Research Excellence. Scholars are also required to address the NAE Grand Challenges and think about the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals when doing so. At the end of the 3 years in the GLASS Program, students have a better understanding of the impact they can have on changing the world for the better. GLASS students enter the world as globally competent and socially responsible innovators and engineers!
My Global Challenge:
“Enhancing Accessibility through Rehabilitation Engineering and Sustainable Technology. "
Interdisciplinary work is where I thrive, the dynamic ability to improve public health from an "unconventional" approach. The terms mechanical engineering and translational medicine have no obvious connection at first glance; however, intersecting the disciplines of engineering and health is what I hope to do. And health directly correlates to the cities we live in and the spaces we interact with. This is the basis of my culmination of the work I have done with GLASS. Read below to read more about my primary SDGs and the connection between my Global Challenge and Policy Paper.
Primary UN SDGs:
SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
SDG 11: Reduced Inequalities
Psychological safety is a term coined in 1999 that describes the belief that an environment is safe if you believe you can freely express your idea without fear of punishment or humiliation. It is often associated with team collaboration and workspaces. However, I believe that this can be extended into the Engineering & Culture realm. Engineering and sustainable technology can be leveraged to enhance both physical and psychological safety in public and private spaces. While safety in engineering has traditionally emphasized the prevention of physical harm, this paper argues that true accessibility requires environments where individuals also feel secure, respected, and free from fear. Bridging the concepts of psychological safety, inclusive design, and sustainability, the paper situates these issues within the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals on health, well-being, and reduced inequalities. I am currently examining three focus areas: (1) integrating psychological safety into urban infrastructure and transit design, (2) promoting sustainable assistive technologies for accessibility, and (3) engineering gender-responsive safety technologies for public spaces. Further research will determine which of these pathways offers the most effective and policy-relevant approach for advancing inclusive, sustainable safety systems through engineering. We live in a world where every choice we make is political, and yet I (along with my peers) chose to go to an engineering school. Science and mathematics are the foundations of engineering and hold the power to send us to the moon or propel us to the end of the world as we know it. But it does not act alone, science does not drive our society, policies do. It’s why every aspect of scientific research is vital – we need evidence and data to create informed decisions and policies that influence the way we live. I want to be the kind of leader that informs policy, and as an engineering student I care deeply about innovative design and sustainable technology – design that goes on to address inequalities and promote good health & well-being, my two UN SDGs. My Global Challenge is significant, as a lot of the work I have done at Tandon has been project-based design surrounding the disability community and product design for personal self-defense tools. My Global Challenge works to amplify the voices of marginalized communities.
My academic and professional interests center on advancing rehabilitation engineering and sustainable technologies that enhance accessibility, health, and safety in the built environment. I am particularly interested in how interdisciplinary collaboration between mechanical engineering, public health, and policy can create systems that improve quality of life for marginalized communities. Increasing accessibility in infrastructure and technology not only improves physical mobility but also promotes psychological safety, social participation, and health equity. Throughout my time in the Global Leaders and Scholars in STEM (GLASS) program at NYU, I have worked to contextualize this goal through research, global engagement, and engineering design.
My Global Challenge, “Enhancing Accessibility through Rehabilitation Engineering and Sustainable Technology,” explores how engineering innovation can address inequalities in health and public safety. This work aligns most closely with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3) and Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10). While engineering traditionally prioritizes preventing physical harm, my work argues that accessibility must also account for psychological safety—the ability for individuals to exist in public and private spaces without fear, exclusion, or humiliation. By integrating principles of inclusive design, sustainability, and psychological safety, I examine how engineering solutions can create environments that support both physical and emotional well-being.
Through my academic experiences, I have explored how engineering research can contribute to improved healthcare technologies. As a research fellow in the Applied Micro-Bioengineering Laboratory, I worked on micro-engineering organ-on-a-chip systems for lymph node disease modeling, contributing to research that informs vaccine development and immunotherapy. In a separate research project through NYU’s Undergraduate Summer Research Program, I designed a cost-efficient thermo-control system for polarized optical microscopy, developing a sustainable and accessible laboratory tool that supports nanobiology research related to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Beyond the laboratory, my work has focused on human-centered engineering design for accessibility and safety. I developed the InStep Telescopic Cane, an accessible mobility device designed through iterative prototyping to improve ergonomic comfort and functionality for users with mobility impairments. I am also currently developing a bio-wearable self-defense device that models physiological stress responses to simulate the body’s fight-or-flight reaction, exploring how engineering design can enhance personal safety technologies.
My global experiences have also shaped my understanding of health equity and social infrastructure. Through study abroad at NYU Abu Dhabi, a travel colloquium in Ghana with the NYU MLK Scholars Program, and service work in Nairobi, Kenya, I engaged with communities and institutions addressing issues such as public health disparities, access to medical research, and the historical legacies that shape global inequalities today. These experiences reinforced the importance of translating scientific innovation into policy and community-centered solutions.
Ultimately, I aspire to become an engineering leader who bridges the gap between technological innovation and policy implementation. Engineering alone does not determine how society evolves—policy shapes how technology is deployed and who benefits from it. By combining technical expertise with interdisciplinary research and global engagement, I aim to design sustainable technologies that promote accessibility, improve health outcomes, and amplify the voices of marginalized communities. Through this work, I hope to contribute to building systems that make our cities, technologies, and institutions more equitable, inclusive, and safe for all.