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MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Student Profile: Hrishikesh Panchawagh

Hrishikesh Panchawagh

When he first became interested in mechanical engineering as a high school student in India, Hrishikesh Panchawagh wanted to work on automobiles. Now studying for his PhD, he hopes to play a role in improving health care through advanced research in micro- and nano-systems.

Panchawagh is working with CU faculty to develop a novel neuronal probe that would be minimally invasive while implanting electrodes in a patient's brain for treatment of Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, or paralysis.

"Ultimately, we"ll have a wireless device that can be used to sense neural signals in the brain and transmit these signals to remote muscle stimulators to overcome paralysis," he predicts. His team already has a provisional patent on a biologically compatible probe that can be deployed post-surgery to minimize the tissue inflammation.

Panchawagh earned his bachelor's degree in engineering at Maharashtra Institute of Technology at Pune University before coming to CU as a graduate student. He then began to focus on microelectro-mechanical systems, which combine his interests in mechanics and electronics.

When he completes his doctorate, Panchawagh wants to join a research lab where he can continue in research and development. "I want to work on commercializing this technology. I want to make it viable so that it can really help patients," he says.

Someday, he may return to India as a teacher in order to give something back to his native country: "I"d like to start a program similar to this," he says.