Vesper Evereux
MIT Department: Mechanical Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Ritu Raman
Research Supervisor: Jessica Shah, Sonika Kohli
Undergraduate Institution: University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Website:
Biography
Vesper Evereux is a mechanical engineering major with a secondary degree in fashion design, combining a technical and creative skillset to advance novel developments in tissue engineering and bioprinting. At UNLV, they published first-author work on the time-dependent viscoelastic properties of bioprintable hydrogels under Dr. Seungman Park. They also co-authored a study on surfactant-enhanced nucleate boiling heat transfer under Dr. JeremyCho, gaining experience in both experimental design and multiphysics systems. At MIT, they worked in Dr. Ritu Raman’s lab to scale a magnetic matrix actuation platform that delivers physical stimulation to fibrin and gelatin methacrylate hydrogels. This work reflects their interdisciplinary approach to designing biologically integrated systems that treat the body as both a subject of design and a site for functional innovation. They plan to pursue a PhD focused on biofabrication and biohybrid systems that explore the translational and synergistic effects of various signaling pathways
Abstract
Reproducible Dynamic Spatiotemporal Control of Large-Scale Hydrogel Substrates via Magnetic Matrix Actuation
Vesper Evereux1, Sonika Kohli2, Jessica Shah3, and Ritu Raman2
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nevada-Las Vegas
2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3Department of Health Sciences and Technology
In tissue engineering, researchers continue to face the challenge of replicating the dynamic mechanical cues found in vivo, which play a crucial role in guiding cell behavior and tissue formation. Magnetic Matrix Actuation (MagMA) is a non-invasive platform that delivers mechanical stimulation to engineered tissues via embedded magnetic micro-actuators. However, current systems are limited to mm-scale, 2D and 3D constructs, that fail to mimic physiologically relevant cm-scale tissues. Here, we present a high-throughput, reliable, and scalable approach that enables 2D magneto-mechanical stimulation of physiologic-scale tissues. Using image based strain mapping, localized deformation fields were characterized within fibrin gels by quantifying the spatial distribution and magnitude of mechanical stimulation. Preliminary results demonstrate MagMA’s ability to be scaled up to cm-scale tissue constructs capable of generating reproducible displacement and strain patterns up to XYZ. This platform offers a scalable approach to control mechanical inputs in vitro with high spatiotemporal resolution, advancing mechanobiological studies and informing the design of bioinspired systems for regenerative therapies.