Student Profile: Katherine Freed, '08

By Regina Pynn, '11
Student Correspondent

Katherine Freed (Class of 2008, Rutherford NJ) already has notes on her résumé that some graduate students would be jealous of. She took her Senior Design project as an opportunity to perform groundbreaking research that has resulted in a provisional patent, publishing opportunities, and a first place finish in a prestigious contest.

Freed entered Stevens in 2003, but added a year to her program in order to receive both her B.E. in Biomedical Engineering and her B.A. in History. She completed her Senior Design project in her fourth year at Stevens. Freed and her team focused on Electrical Impedance Technology (EIT), which deals with the electric properties of healthy and malignant body tissue. Her group created a prototype of a device that would perform a non-invasive three dimensional screening for breast cancer. The device would remove much of the ambiguity present in current breast cancer screening processes and allow a diagnosis to be made swiftly and easily.

“We found the technology, and then decided on application,” Freed said.

Their prototype has received wide recognition and acclaim. The team received the Technogenesis Award, which is given by Stevens to the Senior Design team that has the greatest potential to develop new technology based on scientific concepts. The team has also received a provisional patent for their device and they are looking into applying for a full patent.

“Then last April we competed in the New Jersey level of the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers (ISPE) poster contest. We came in second, then were given the opportunity to compete internationally…[I] went to Las Vegas where I competed with students from all over the world.”

Freed won first place in the poster contest, which allows her to publish the team’s research in ISPE’s journal.

“For me it’s not so much the monetary gains, but that something useful can come from this technology. It should be used to save lives.”

Freed is currently deciding between several law schools and plans on studying Health Law and Bioethics and said that her experience at Stevens has prepared her for this future.

“I came in as a Mechanical Engineer and had no idea I’d pick up degrees in Biomedical Engineering and History! At Stevens I started the Stevens Political Awareness Committee…and in class I learned about ethics. I have an appreciation for the legal and ethical implications of new technology…Stevens is a small school with big resources and I am confident that Stevens has prepared me to reach my full potential and my professional goals.”

Comments

I read the article about Ms. Freed's new technology for screening breast cancer. This is wonderful. When she and her team receive the patent, I hope that the technology will be implemented quickly so that the lives of mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, sisters and friends will be saved from this deadly disease.

[Alice McClymont]

I read with great interest about the prototype of the breast screening device. I am a 6 year breast cancer survivor and am presently waiting for test results. The waiting is the worst part. Anything that will make this process more efficient is applauded.

Congratulations to Ms Freed.