{"28049":{"#nid":"28049","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Student Named to USA Today\u0027s 2009 All-USA College Academic Team","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s Virgil Secasanu, a recent biomedical engineering (BME) graduate, has been named to USA Today\u0027s All Academic Team.  Secasanu was one of 20 students named to the first-team; each winner will receive a $2,500 cash reward.  Judges based the selection on grades, leadership, activities and, most importantly, how students extend their intellectual talents beyond the classroom.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This award is very exciting to me,\u0022 said Secasanu.  \u0022I\u0027m humbled to be a part of this group of students and to have my hard work nationally recognized.\u0022\n\nSecasanu\u0027s accomplishments go well beyond the classroom.\n\n\u0022I worked with another undergraduate student and a BME professor to almost quadruple the output of a laboratory technique used to control the micrometer-scale synthesis of cell scaffolds,\u0022 said Secasanu.  \u0022We published this work and used the technique to synthesize neuron scaffolds for a nerve regeneration project (which could have strong benefits to curing nerve damage, and even paralysis).\u0022\n\nSecasanu also worked with several physicians to design and develop medical devices. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022My most ambitious project was working with two additional BME students where we designed, developed, constructed and evaluated a minimally invasive device for treating atrial fibrillation (a cardiac disorder),\u0022 he said.  \u0022It has strong benefits to reducing healthcare costs and improving treatment availability.\u0022\n\nThat work helped Secasanu land his current job as a research and development engineer at an Atlanta medical device startup (TransCardiac Therapeutics). As part of his work, he\u0027s been able to design, patent, evaluate and submit for FDA review several novel cardiac devices.  He plans to go to medical school in the fall and says his long-term goals include melding his passion for medicine and bioengineering to help treat and eradicate ailments.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u0027s Virgil Secasanu, a recent biomedical engineering (BME) graduate, has been named to USA Today\u0027s All Academic Team.  Secasanu was one of 20 students named to the first-team; each winner will receive a $2,500 cash reward.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Virgil Secasanu named to USA Today\u0027s All Academic 1st Team"}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2009-04-29 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:29","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-04-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-04-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/news\/education\/2009-04-29-college-all-stars_N.htm","title":"USA Today\u0027s 2009 All-USA College Academic Team"}],"groups":[{"id":"1317","name":"News Briefs"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"748","name":"2009 All-USA College Academic Team"},{"id":"101","name":"Award"},{"id":"167285","name":"scholarship"},{"id":"747","name":"USA Today"},{"id":"749","name":"Virgil Secasanu"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}