My passion for chemical and biomolecular engineering began when my ninth grade biomedical science and engineering teacher showed a video called “The Miracle of Technology.” The video was about the different biomedical engineering equipment that improved health in society. It showed equipment including pacemakers, artificial hearts, and lung machines that brought smiles to patients and their families. I realized that innovation in biomedical technology was the answer to my question about how to make medical equipment accessible for all people, a question I’d been asking myself for years.
While growing up in Ghana, there were media discussions everyday about health problems that were not directly related to health practices, but rather to engineering.
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Even in America, where there seem to be ample resources and technology, vulnerable populations such as poor and disabled have less access to advanced technology. I realized that inaccessibility to effective health care technologies is a global problem. This made me more passionate about the topic. I knew that solving the issue of inaccessibility would not only impact Ghana and America, but also the world at large. With this knowledge, I set out to become a chemical and biomoecular …show more content…
I want to focus on designing affordable biomedical equipment for vulnerable, underserved populations such as the elderly and disabled. I aspire to produce cheaper and more accessible prosthetic devices, using less expensive local materials such as bamboo that grows in the forest of Ghana or the south of United States. Using metals such as titanium to make prosthetic devices is expensive and therefore only accessible to the rich but using local materials could help eliminate this disparity. I want to produce better biosensors for more effective disease diagnosis and detection. With this technology, medical professionals can reduce diseases such as breast cancer that is more easily treated in the early stages. I plan to work in my college community to create, test, and perfect the design of sensors and prosthetic devices during my undergraduate studies. I want to contribute to the health and wellbeing of underserved populations through technological advancement and community