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Ing-Chea Ang ’04 (Penang, Malaysia) is conducting a yearlong honors research project to improve a method of killing tumors.
A double major in mechanical engineering and mathematics & economics, Ang is investigating the radio-frequency thermal ablation (excision) of tumors, a procedure in which electrodes are inserted directly into a tumor. The energy produced from the electrodes heats the tumor and destroys it.
“Thermal ablation is used to treat hepatic tumors that cannot be surgically removed. It is also used in cardiology to correct arrhythmias,” explains Erol Ulucakli, associate professor of mechanical engineering and Ang’s adviser for the honors thesis.
They are working to create a heat transfer model as well as ablation in order to estimate the temperature distribution around the radio-frequency probe and the thermal ablator. The technology is relatively new and has not yet been thoroughly explored. They meet every week to discuss the topic, and Ang says it is exciting to unearth knowledge that others have yet to discover.
“I find the topic particularly interesting because this project is a combination of mechanical and biomedical engineering,” he says. “I think people will directly benefit from my work. It means a good deal to me that lives can potentially be saved from my discoveries.”
Ang says that Ulucakli is a great adviser. “He’s very good at what he does,” he notes. “He has a lot of experience in research and I’m impressed by his wealth of knowledge.”
“I’m learning a lot of new things from working on this project with him,” he continues. “I approached him about doing this project last minute. By then, Dr. Ulucakli already had enough of what he can handle for the semester, but he decided to stretch himself a little bit and work with me. I’m grateful for that.”
The environment at Lafayette has provided Ang with many opportunities to learn.
“Lafayette’s size has advantages in that you have personal attention from the faculty,” he says, adding that Ulucakli ordered $100,000 worth of equipment that is being used for the research. Funds for these purchases came from a National Science Foundation grant.
Ulucakli believes that Lafayette is an ideal place for honors thesis projects.
“The college provides professors and students who have the desire to engage in research and an environment to perform research, particularly at the leading edge,” he says. “The type of research we are engaged in is performed at graduate schools of leading universities. Our level is comparable.”
After graduation, Ulucakli says that not only will Ang be able to work designing and manufacturing devices such as the ones he has been creating during the project, he could also work at a hospital as a clinical engineer if he continues biomedical studies.
“This project is definitely multi-disciplinary,” Ulucakli says. “Ing-Chea will benefit from his exposure to the discipline of biomedical engineering.”
Ang is an officer in Tau Beta Pi (national engineering honor society) and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Epsilon (economics) honor societies. He is a head resident adviser and a member of the College Fed Challenge team, the Asian Cultural Association, Lafayette Christian Fellowship, and the International Student Association. He also participates in the soccer club and is a drummer for the jazz quartet.
Ang was a team leader for the Alternative Spring Break service trip to Honduras coordinated last year by Lafayette’s Landis Community Outreach Center. He has placed third in the Benjamin F. Barge Math Competition and twice has participated in Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars program, in which students assist faculty with research while earning a stipend.
Honors thesis projects are among several major opportunities at Lafayette that make the College a national leader in undergraduate research. Lafayette sends one of the largest contingents to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research each year. Over the past five years, more than 130 Lafayette students have presented results from research with faculty mentors, or under their guidance, at the conference.