Salonee Darbari
Project Lead
Salonee will be graduating in June 2020 with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. As Team Lead she focused on documentation, organizing tasks and deadlines, and coordinating with mentors and instructors. After graduation, she will be working in industry as a Manufacturing Engineer 1 at Medtronic. Her favorite fruit is mango and she has a known reputation for bad puns.
Cynthia Perez
Manufacturing and Material Selection
Cynthia will be graduating in June 2020 with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. As a manufacturer, she assisted with the multiple iterations in the prototyping process and assisted with materials research and selection. Cynthia plans to work in industry after graduation as a biomedical engineer. She is known by many as a hot chip aficionado.
Rini Jayarethinam
Market Research and Material Selection
Rini will be graduating in June 2020 with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering with a specialization in Micro and Nano Engineering. As a market researcher, Rini assisted with surveying potential consumers, researching competitors and assisting with branding. After graduation, she plans to pursue her Master's Degree at Duke University in North Carolina. Rini is a food enthusiast and regularly creates and shares recipes on her food blog, "food_feels_good".
Leilani Camara
Product Design, Testing and Validation
Leilani will be graduating in June 2020 with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. As designer, Leilani created Solidworks models of the team's different design concepts, conducted research on important design features, and outlined testing and validation processes. After graduation, Leilani plans to work in the industry in the Bay Area. Leilani is a long-time soccer player and loves to run by the beach. You can always find her equipped with snacks.
Julianna Bordas
Manufacturer and Materials Selection
Julianna will be graduating in June 2020 with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering with a specialization in Biophotonics. As a manufacturer, she was responsible for creating many different iterations of the Bilibeanie, researching materials and suggestions for the material. After graduation, Julianna will be pursuing her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Duke University in North Carolina. Julianna is a known Taco Bell enthusiast and is excited to go linedancing in North Carolina once she starts school.
Suzy Engwall
Project Mentor
Suzy is the National Director at Innovation for Change. She helps build and deploy innovation programs that leverage physician and caregivers ideas to create new revenue streams as well as work to define the culture of innovation and problem solving within the hospitals they serve. Suzy played a key role by connecting the NeoMates to integral resources for the project
Cody Matthews
Physician Mentor
Cody is a nurse at Children's Hospital Orange County, specifically working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Cody created the initial concept of the Bilibeanie, which she introducted to the Innovation Institute. She has served as a subject matter expert on the phototherapy process as well as a liasion between NeoMates and CHOC.
Hieu Le
Engineering Mentor
Hieu Le is the Executive Director for Product Development at The Innovation Institute. Hieu promotes and cultivates innovation during the earliest stages of product conceptualization to help improve and transform healthcare. Hieu has played an integral role to the team by providing design and testing feedback through the many iterations of the product.