{"id":5181,"date":"2026-05-13T15:02:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:02:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/?post_type=profiles&#038;p=5181"},"modified":"2026-08-12T07:55:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T11:55:06","slug":"daniel-son","status":"publish","type":"profiles","link":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/profiles\/daniel-son\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Son"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"599\" src=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Son-Daniel.jpg\" alt=\"by Corban Swain\" class=\"wp-image-5639\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1;object-fit:cover;width:200px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Son-Daniel.jpg 400w, https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Son-Daniel-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fullerton College<\/strong><br>Faculty Advisor: Prof. Ellen Roche<br>Research Supervisors: Rose Yin, Alix Wagner<br>Department: Mechanical Engineering<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:0px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Biography<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Daniel Son is a junior at UCLA, having transferred from Fullerton College. He is pursuing<br>the Departmental Scholar program at UCLA to simultaneously earn his bachelor&#8217;s and master&#8217;s<br>degrees in mechanical engineering. Growing up immersed in California&#8217;s innovation hubs, Daniel<br>was drawn to mechanical engineering by a fascination with the complex machinery that powers the<br>aerospace and medical device sectors. As an MSRP intern, Daniel builds on a strong foundation<br>of collaborative technical leadership developed while serving as a campus math and physics tutor<br>and a board member for both the Math and Physics clubs. His engineering experience bridges<br>mechanical principles and execution through SolidWorks modeling and fabricating anatomically<br>diverse medical phantoms for device validation using injection molding techniques. Witnessing<br>how mechanical engineers contribute specialized expertise across diverse laboratory environments<br>solidified his goal of pursuing a PhD in mechanical engineering to drive interdisciplinary<br>technological innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><br><strong>Anatomically Diverse Female Reproductive Phantoms for Gynecological<br>Device Validation<br>Daniel Son1,2, Rose T. Yin3, Ellen Roche3<\/strong><br>1Department of Technology and Engineering, Fullerton College<br>2Department of Mechanical &amp; Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles<br>3Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><br>High-fidelity medical phantoms that mimic human tissue enable tailored device development and<br>reduce reliance on animal testing. However, gynecology remains an under-researched field that<br>lacks adequate preclinical testing models. Current practice relies on oversimplified synthetic options<br>or animal models. The industry standard uses a straight cylinder, which fails to accurately orient the<br>cervix relative to the vaginal opening or reflect patient anatomical diversity. While pigs and sheep<br>are common preclinical models, their reproductive systems feature dual uterine horns that differ<br>significantly from the single human uterus, making them inadequate substitutes. To fill this gap,<br>this project developed female reproductive system phantoms at three different orientations. Derived<br>from patient scans, mold shells of vaginal orientations in the 5th, 50th, and 95th percentiles were<br>fabricated using fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printing. Various materials\u2013including silicone<br>940 and ballistic gel for mechanical replication, alongside polyvinyl alcohol cryogenic (PVAC)<br>hydrogels for ultrasound compatibility\u2013were cast into the molds. The resulting multi-material<br>phantoms successfully replicate both the anatomical diversity and the acoustic and mechanical<br>properties necessary for clinical simulation. This methodology provides a low-cost, customizable<br>platform that improves preclinical device validation and clinician training, ultimately accelerating<br>gynecological healthcare innovations and improving patient outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5419,"template":"","profile_category":[25],"class_list":["post-5181","profiles","type-profiles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","profile_category-2026-interns"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/profiles"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5781,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5181\/revisions\/5781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"profile_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_category?post=5181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}