Chipping In - Kirby Leo

Touring imec, settling into my studio at Wisteria, and knocking out paper errands across the city left me exhausted at the end of each day in Leuven. However, I was beyond excited to get started on my research here.

I met the Cell and Tissue Technologies team that I’ll be working with, and I immediately jumped into my heart-on-a-chip project with my supervisor, Thomas. There’s been a learning curve with the experimental part of the electronics work since I’m used to the more biomedical side of biomedical engineering research. However, the heavier engineering experience is part of what I expected and wanted from my time at imec. Between experiments and literature research, I’ve been immersing myself in the world of chip technology and in vitro cardiotoxicity assays. I’ve also gotten the chance to learn about some of the other work going on in the Life Sciences Technologies division.

Enjoying Brugge

During my first weekend in Europe, Tom DiSorbo and I took the train to Brussels and Brugge. From the tourist-congested Manneken Pis and pristine chocolate bust of Jean Jr. Neuhaus to alley-hidden 16^th century restaurants and quirky Belgian street city art, I was blown away by the density of everything in Brussels. Though Brugge was equally crowded as Brussels, the setting was mainly short residential cottages and towering chapels. My favorite spot was Sint-Janshospitaal (St. John’s Hospital), which was a medieval hospital founded in the 12^th century. It held the artwork of Hans Memling along with collections of medical instruments and an apothecary in the back; I found the intertwining of religion and medicine incredible.

Bike-filled Leuven

Though I haven’t been in Europe for long, I’ve been enjoying it immensely. Biking is becoming less of a struggle, and I’m constantly acclimating to the Flemish way of living. Though I’ve noticed similarities with how the Center for Nanomedicine at Hopkins and imec operate (e.g. team style, product-based engineering projects), imec has a uniquely industrial feel from its microelectronics technology and wide-targeting collaborations (partly due to it being such a massive organization). I’m extremely grateful to my supervisor for enlightening me with all the academic and cultural details, and I’m eager to see what the rest of the summer holds for my research and explorations.