TL;DR I advise, research, audit, educate, and implement systems related to design justice in bioengineering.Full version:Bioengineers are tasked with the hefty problem of designing for the health and wellbeing of society. This sort of work is high risk- many startups fail, bioengineering companies face class action lawsuits, devices can be recalled from the FDA, and companies can even suffer bad publicity when things do not go right. This failure is rooted in the fact that bioengineering design always occurs within a social context that has financial, social, and ecological consequences, but bioengineers are not trained to formally understand the social world that we live in.My expertise:Thankfully sociology helps us understand society with theoretical models of social systems. I have spent years studying the culture of bioengineering, and the social aspects of bioengineering design that progress and hinder laboratories and companies. With this expertise, I founded Equity Systems Consulting to help companies avoid costly consequences like recalls, fines from regulatory agencies, and failed device uptake from consumers/patients.Services:In need of an assessment of your company's social equity performance? Looking to optimize the social impact of your research using research backed methods? Want a series of workshops to train employees on design equity concepts? Contact Equity Systems Consulting for auditing, protocol implementation, teaching and more!

Creator and Co-Host of Joint Highpothesis podcast. Where two Black scientists talk about the political, biomedical, communal, and racialized world ancestors' favorite plant. This show uses the perspective of a Black feminist sociologist, community advocate, and bioengineer to communicate what marginalized perspectives have to teach us about cannabis. Listen in for season one, episodes updates biweekly!

Research:1. Critical Race DEI Consultation for bioengineering design and early construction of biomedical products.2. The pharmaceuticalization of marijuana and Black cannabis activism

In the Visualization and Image Analaysis Lab, I spent my time working on FingerSight, a wearable device for the visually impaired. This included rapid prototyping on the FingerSight project using Solidworks and sketching. You can read more about my work with the FingerSight laboratory here (https://www.itsrene.com/fingersight) and on the Visualization and Image Analysis website. I also complete commercialization analysis and conduct IRB-approved experiments on developing guiding strategies.

I served as one of two peer counselors for EXCEL Summer Engineering Academy, a two week rigorous training program for incoming engineering freshman. Duties: In addition to being the Teaching Assistant for both Physics and Calculus courses, I provided mentorship and 24 hr residential support.

I independently operated a bioprinter to form biocompatible scaffolds used in bone regeneration. I studied parameters of the entire bioprinting process from start to finish.