Chris Nacea

When I was at the University of Florida, I joined the Dobson research group in the Biomedical Engineering Department as an undergraduate research assistant. Olivia was my graduate mentor in this lab and helped me gain invaluable research experience. This lab mainly focused on the biomedical applications of magnetic nanoparticle. My work in the lab was in support of several of Olivia’s projects. One of the main projects I supported was a project to evaluate commercially available magnetic nanoparticles for use in magnetic hyperthermia. I assisted in imaging many of the different nanoparticles and perform dynamic light scattering measurements. I also worked with Olivia for my senior thesis project where I demonstrated the ability of a peristaltic flow device to magnetically remove cytokines in solution which aimed to understand how to reduce patient inflammatory response in bypass surgery. As a mentor, Olivia was always willing to put in the time to teach me new concepts and provide me in-depth explanations of the work I would be doing in the lab. Olivia also put in the time to connect with me outside of the lab and helped engage the research group by organizing fun activities, which helped bring us closer together. 

 

Currently I am a materials engineer at SpaceX working on the refurbishment of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft in Cape Canaveral, Florida. I primarily focus on evaluating corrosion and environmental degradation of various systems and implement repairs and design fixes for issues that arise during maintenance operations. I also perform material testing and directly support launch and reliability engineers in order to meet aggressive launch schedules. 

 

I like to think that I went from working with analyzing iron oxide for biomedical applications to analyzing iron oxide and corrosion on things that go to space!