ChEMS Student Selected to Speak at Cal Poly Pomona ADVANCE Distinguished Doctoral Student Seminar Series

Fourth-year materials science and engineering graduate student Shehreen Dheda has been selected to present her research as part of the Cal Poly Pomona ADVANCE: Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering CareersDistinguished Doctoral Student seminar series, in which talented women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines that are currently in Ph.D. programs are invited to visit the campus and give departmental seminars. The seminar, “Production of Ultra-fine Grained and Nanocrystalline Titanium for Biomedical Applications,”will be given to inspire undergraduate students to go to graduate school.



Earlier this year, Dheda received second place for Best Junior Research Award in the Functional and Structural Nanomaterials Poster Session at the 2011 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) Annual Meeting & Exhibition held Feb. 27 – Mar. 3 in San Diego for her poster, "Effect of Initial Microstructure on the Processing of Titanium Using Equal Channel Angular Pressing."



Dheda’s project, “Processing and Characterization of Titanium for Biomedical Applications,” is conducted in collaboration with California Nanotechnologies, Inc. The project involves the application of innovative processing techniques to produce bulk ultrafine grained and nanocrystalline titanium to improve the properties of titanium for biomedical applications. Applying her dual training in materials science engineering and biomedical engineering, she works with undergraduate students from various engineering and science fields in an interdisciplinary effort to improve titanium for its application as a material for biomedical implants, like joint replacements and dental implants. Titanium alloys that are currently used in biomedical implants are stronger than pure titanium, but their alloy elements (the metals they are mixed with) can diffuse into the body. Her research focuses on exploring new processing techniques, known as severe plastic deformation, which can result in pure titanium with enhanced strength. Other properties that she will investigate include resistance to corrosion and biological compatibility.



Working under Professor Farghalli A. Mohamed, Ph.D., Dheda earned her M.S. in materials science and engineering and her B.S. in biomedical engineering at UC Irvine. In 2009, she was awarded a three-year fellowship from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program.  She participates in the Materials Outreach Program, led by Mohamed, and she is the graduate student advisor to the Society of Women Engineers at UC Irvine.