Director
Dr. Alain Kassab
Dr. Kassab is currently a Professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace engineering Department at the University of Central Florida. His research interests include computational heat transfer and fluid flow, inverse problems, bioengineering, boundary elements, and optimization.
Ph.D. Students
Madisyn Messmore (BSME, MSBME, Ph.D., FA 2026)
Madisyn Messmore is currently a Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. Candidate in the Computational Mechanics Lab, studying hemodynamic analysis of Transposition of the Great Arteries. Her research interests include hemodynamics, congenital heart disease, human development, and computational fluid dynamics.
Thoai Nguyen (BSME, MSME, MBA, P.E, Ph.D., SP 2027)
Thoai is currently a Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. student. He has spent over 15 years designing medical devices, specializing in a broad range of surgical applications, including brain tumor removal, spine procedures, and Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) surgeries. His current interest is in tissue and bone modeling and simulation. His work continues to bridge the gap between engineering and medicine, advancing the capabilities of surgical devices and procedures.
M.S. Students
David Castillo Arceo (BSME, MSME, FA 2026)
David Castillo Arceo is currently a Master’s student in Mechanical Engineering – Thermofluids at UCF. His research interests include internal flow analysis, pipe flow, left ventricular assist devices, and heat transfer.
Michka-Mae Hyde ( BSBE, MSBME, SP 2026)
Michka-Mae Hyde is a Master’s student in Biomedical Engineering, specializing in Biofluids. She is deeply passionate about advancing cardiovascular medical technology, with a focus on researching blood flow dynamics, designing innovative vascular devices, and solving surgical challenges.
Jemual Shaylor (BSME, MSBME, M.D., SP 2025)
Jemual is a MS/MD student pursuing both a Masters in Biomedical Engineering and a Medical Doctorate. Jemual’s research interests include collateral artery formation and closure, orthopedic surgery, and computational fluid dynamics.
Javier Pratdesaba (BSCE, MSBME, SP 2027)
Javier is pursuing a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering with a focus on biofluids. His research interests include hemodynamics in congenital heart disease, evolutionary algorithms, and computational fluid dynamics. His ultimate goal is to attend medical school and become a surgeon.
Undergraduate Students
Carolina Santos (BS Health Sciences, SP 2027)
Carolina Santos is pursuing a major in health sciences with a pre-medical track, and the ultimate goal is to attend medical school. Her medical interest is in neurosurgery. Additionally, her research interest is in LVADs. Carolina was a member of the 2024 cohort of F-LEARN students, and is continuing her research with the group.
Madison Lajter (BS Mechanical Engineering, SP 2027)
Madison is an undergraduate studying mechanical engineering. Her research interests include medical image segmentation, biofluids, and LVADs. She is also involved in the Biomedical Engineering Society at UCF, and is the current Vice President of the club.
Tiffanie Crumbie (BSEE)
Tiffanie is an undergraduate student studying Electrical Engineering. Tiffanie’s research interests include medical image processing, echocardiography, and generation of 3D models from two-dimensional scans.
Nicole Cornette (BSME)
Nicole is an undergraduate student studying Mechanical Engineering. Nicole’s research interests include left ventricular assist devices and thrombus formation and migration.
Past Students
Ph.D.
Kyle Beggs (Ph.D., SU 2024), Dissertation Title: A Multiscale Meshless Method for Simulating Cardiovascular Flows
Ray Otto Prather (Ph.D., SP 2018), Dissertation Title: Multi-Scale Fluid-Structure Interaction Model Analysis of Patient Specific Geometry for Optimization of LVAD Outlflow Graft Implantation: an investigation aimed at reducing stroke risk
Marwan Hameed (Ph.D. FA 2019), Dissertation Title: Computational Fluid Dynamics Investigation of A Novel Hybrid Comprehensive Stage II Operation For Single Ventricle Palliation
Masters
Abubakar Dankano (MS, FA 2022), Thesis Title: Tailoring of the Left Ventricular Assist Device Cannula Implantation Using Coupled Multi-Scale Multi-Objective Patient Specific Optimization.
Blake Lozinski (MS, FA 2019), Thesis Title: Hybrid Multi-Objective Optimization of Left Ventricular Assist Device Outflow Graft Anastomosis Orientation to Minimize Stroke Rate
Roscelin Figueroa (MS)
Bachelors
Amuhelang Mbizo (Health Sciences)
Aniyah Ellerbe (Health Sciences, FLEARN)
Kai Fellows (Health Sciences, FLEARN)
Mark Andre De Gracia (BSME)