Carlos Castro is looking forward to start his Ph.D. at MIT.

This fall I am starting a doctoral program in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I received a fellowship from an interdisciplinary program in Materials Science, Mechanical, and Chemical Engineering. My tuition and fees are completely covered plus I receive a monthly stipend for the first year, which will give me time to choose a research advisor. My research will be in the area of Bioengineering, where I would like to use new medical imaging techniques to relate the structure of biological systems (tissues, cells, etc.) to their mechanical behavior.

I am well prepared for MIT. In my classes at OSU I gained a solid engineering background, and thanks to my father, a professor in Industrial Engineering, I was able to become involved in research early. I worked with his polymer processing research group for three years. This enabled me to publish papers and attend conferences, and I just recently completed a master’s thesis. Eventually, I would like to teach at a top notch engineering school such as The Ohio State University.

Some of my best memories from OSU include being a part of the 2000 Big Ten Championship soccer team, graduating at the spring 2005 commencement, and attending research conferences with my father. Furthermore, by being a Latin@ at OSU and participating in such groups as the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Minority Engineering Program, I have met several friends and future colleagues.