HRL Laboratories Research Scientist Selected for Frontiers of Engineering Symposium
Aruna Jammalamadaka, research staff scientist in HRL’s Information and Systems Sciences Lab, was invited to the National Academy of Engineering’s 26th Annual US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, conducted virtually. © Getty Images.
National Academy of Engineering Invites Prominent Early-Career Engineers to Discuss Worldwide Challenges
HRL Laboratories, LLC, announced that Aruna Jammalamadaka, a research staff scientist in HRL’s Information and Systems Sciences Lab, was the latest HRL researcher to join other early-career engineers selected to take part in the National Academy of Engineering’s 26th Annual US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, this year conducted virtually. Nominated by fellow engineers or organizations, invitees are engineers aged 30-45 who are conducting exceptional research and technical work in many disciplines across industry, academia, and government.
This kind of technology can save lives
With an eye on addressing engineering grand challenges, the symposium covered leading-edge developments with four diverse themes: Food for Thought: The AgRevolution Shaping What We (Will) Eat; Next-generation Energy Systems Integration; Engineering Innovation in Women’s Health; and Plastics: Pollution Challenges and Innovations.
“All the symposium subjects were important to me, but the women’s health talks were especially compelling because that was the area I knew the least about beforehand,” Jammalamadaka said. “It was inspiring to find out what women engineers are working on to improve the health of women around the world.”
She said further she was impressed by projects designed to increase accessibility to health screenings without doctor office visits. Such home testing and screening kits use specific materials to safely package samples that patients obtain themselves, then mail to a laboratory for analysis. Other innovative equipment designed for remote use has on-board computer vision software that identifies abnormal tissue on site.
“In areas of the world where doctor visits are rare or nonexistent, this kind of technology can save lives,” Jammalamadaka said.
Besides the featured speaker events, virtual breakout sessions and roundtable discussions were enabled through the meeting’s online platform. There also was a virtual lounge to encourage mingling of attendees via 2D avatars, and a virtual poster session, at which Jammalamadaka presented her project, “Behavioral Deviations in Social Media Caused by Emergency Events.”
Originally scheduled before the pandemic as a conference in Golden, CO in September 2020, the virtual event was rescheduled for February 25-27, 2021. One in five nominations for new attendees were accepted, and out of the 106 engineers in attendance, 13 were alumni of the event and 14 were invited speakers.
HRL Laboratories, LLC, Malibu, California (hrl.com) is a corporate research-and-development laboratory owned by The Boeing Company and General Motors specializing in research into sensors and materials, information and systems sciences, applied electromagnetics, and microelectronics. HRL provides custom research and development and performs additional R&D contract services for its LLC member companies, the U.S. government, and other commercial companies.
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