At the heart of medical technology research

Judy Li | Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Biomedical Science

Like many of us, Judy wanted to do something that supported her community. She just had trouble narrowing it down. She knew she wanted to go into the medical field, however, she was more interested in the technical aspects of it.

“I’ve always been interested in the mechanisms behind the devices and machinery that we use… and how they work so that’s why I chose to pair Engineering with Biomedical Science.”

The opportunity to pursue both areas made studying at Monash an “easy choice”. She found the wide range of extracurricular engineering programs and student teams at Monash “extremely rewarding”, which reaffirmed her decision to study Engineering at Monash.

Robots, rovers and making the most of opportunities

Judy's most memorable experience during her studies was competing in the Warman Build and Design Competition, where she collaborated with students from a range of engineering specialisations to design, manufacture, and assemble a robot capable of independently crossing a chasm via a cable.

“It was exciting to see what skills our team members had in their back pockets! As we persisted through the late nights and failed attempts, seeing the culmination of a semester's worth of work come to fruition on competition day was so fulfilling.”

She also joined two student teams, Monash Nova Rover and Monash Young MedTech Innovators. In Nova Rover, Judy learnt 3D modelling software and helped her team to co-design the science payload of a rover that competed in the 2022 Australian Rover Challenge and University Rover Challenge. In both teams, she holds leadership positions that promote inclusion and foster diversity. Judy also previously volunteered as a mentor to first-year students and was an active member of the Monash University Taekwondo Club.

“Put your hand up for opportunities that come your way, and chase after opportunities that seem beyond your reach, because chances are they aren't.”

At the forefront of research and medical innovation

Judy was awarded the Monash Institute of Medical Engineering Healthcare Innovation Summer Scholarship at the Monash Institute of Medical Engineering. This opened her eyes to the process of developing a medical solution that can be brought to market for commercialisation. She was pleasantly surprised to be learning about intellectual property and business models at the lab.

“It made me realise how important it is to be well-rounded in… understanding medical information, having technical skills, and… the business side of things if you want to develop a solution and commercialise it.”

More recently, Judy was awarded a Summer Research Program scholarship where she spent 12 weeks researching at CREATElab (Cardio-Respiratory Engineering And TEchnology laboratory) in the Victorian Heart Hospital. This collaborative research space was formed by Monash University, Alfred Health, and the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute to connect medical professionals with engineers to develop solutions for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

Under the supervision of Associate Professor Shaun Gregory, a leading researcher in cardiovascular devices, Judy’s project involved developing an easily reproducible manufacturing process for an existing suture-less inflow cannula (SLIC) prototype component. This will help the 23 million people a year who experience heart failure by implanting the SLIC in their hearts to bridge them over for or replace heart transplants altogether. It does so by encouraging heart tissue to grow into the device to promote blood flow. She undertook “a biocompatible material selection process, which consisted of finite element analysis (FEA) simulation testing to model and compare the various materials under the same boundary conditions, assessing the mechanical behaviour and structural stability of the different materials”. Judy found it inspiring to study in a lab with dedicated healthcare researchers who encouraged her endeavours.

Suture-less inflow cannula (SLIC) prototype component

“I went into the program knowing that I would probably be learning a few new skills… but I didn’t expect to learn how to use a tensile tester, how to do simulation on Ansys, how to do silicon moulding… There was just so much happening throughout the 12 weeks”

An aspiring career in accessible medical technologies

After graduation, Judy hopes to develop more accessible medical technologies and devices. She wants to keep championing accessibility and eventually make her biotechnological findings available to the world.

“I am very grateful to be receiving the education I am getting, and I hope that I will be able to use it to benefit others”

Find out more about Bachelor of Engineering and what it’s like to study engineering at Monash.

Follow the links to learn more about the Summer Research Program, Monash Nova Rover, and Monash Young MedTech Innovators.