Lab work with Professor Elizabeth Orwin ’95 is collegial, creative—and relevant.  

“I treat my students as colleagues in the lab,” says Orwin, Barbara Stokes Dewey Professor of Engineering and Biology at Harvey Mudd. “I want them to feel creative and in charge of their own projects.” 

Orwin actively pursues industry-sponsored summer research that will expand her students’ knowledge and skills. “I think it gives students a leg up when they’re applying to grad schools or even to industry jobs,” she says.   

For example, Orwin recently won a research grant from a company that makes wound-healing bandages using chitosan, a compound derived from shrimp and other crustacean shells. Soon, her students were exploring the use of matrixes from collagen and chitosan as stem-cell delivery systems for people with traumatic brain injuries.

Another group of students is working with Orwin to design a tissue-engineered corneal model—a research interest Orwin has had since graduate school at the University of Minnesota. “The students have absolutely astounded me with their progress,” says Orwin.

Orwin takes her students to several conferences a year, including California Tissue Engineering meetings—where HMC is the only liberal arts college in attendance. “Harvey Mudd students are actually doing all the kinds of things they talk about at these conferences,” she notes. “It’s exciting when you’re an undergraduate and get the chance to work on science that is relevant to the larger world.”