Rachel Hanna
@RACHELCH97
Las Positas College is full of events happening on campus. For some students who are interested in, majoring in, or have a love for science, the “Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory & Las Positas College Science & Engineering Seminar Series”, was the event for them.
Held on Thurs. Oct. 5 from 6:00 p.m.-7:15 p.m. in room 2420, this event was led by Erik Mukerjee, who has a PhD in Biomedical Engineering and specializes in Micro and Nano Technology.
After completing his PhD, Mukerjee “went on to complete a postdoc at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), where he is now a Research Engineer and Principal Investigator,” according to http://bme.ucdavis.edu.
“At LLNL, Erick’s research focuses on monitoring and manipulating human physiological systems through interfacing with bioMEMS microdevices,” it says on bme.ucdavis.edu. One of Mukerjee’s “microdevices” is microneedles, which was what his lecture was about on campus.
Many students attended this event, filling each seat in room 2420, with many students standing in the back to hear him speak.
After Mukerjee introduced himself, he went on to play an amusing YouTube video that showed students the appropriate tools to use when completing tasks in life. He shared something he thinks is very important: “No matter what you’re doing, brushing your hair, brushing your teeth, cutting your nails, whatever you do, find the right tool for the job,” Mukerjee said.
Mikaela Minamishin, who is in her 5th semester here at Las Positas, attended this event as an extra credit assignment for her Chemistry 31 class. “He made a seemingly boring topic, actually an engaging seminar. I learned that microneedles are an advancement to our society and fully impacts the science community first-handedly… overall, getting the chance to listen to this speaker was very beneficial,” she said.
Microneedles benefit vaccinations by reducing pain for patients.
According to ScienceDaily, needles may be a thing of the past for people receiving an influenza vaccine. This bandage-like patch includes water-soluble needles, which dissolve after softly touching the skin. Patients will enjoy being able to have this patch delivered to their home, applying it to their skin themselves, and saving money by not having flu clinic appointments.
