The abstract written by a Ph.D. student from the Department of Water Resources and Environmental Science, Lo Chi-wen, was voted as one of the five top student abstract finalists at the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO) 53rd Annual Conference in Chicago between Jun 7 and 9. His abstract and paper entitled: “Squeeze Flow Measurements in Mechanical Heart Valves”, which has been supervised by Prof. Lu Po-jen, was amongst the best abstracts submitted by students from the US and Japanese universities.

Prof. Lu is very proud of Lo’s achievement by pointing out that the other finalists are all from top universities in the US and Japan, which are namely the University of Michigan, University of Pittsburg, Penn State University, and Tokyo Denki University. The conference accepted 244 abstracts for presentation and it was attended by over 500 medical doctors, researchers, and students around the world.

Lo’s research was inspired by the current inadequate situation of artificial heart valves, which get eroded easily due to faulty squeeze flow. So he examined the valves that had been used clinically to come up with some vital measurements. These figures will help him improve on the design of the flow so better heart valves can be made. He is convinced the medical technology of Taiwan is capable of delivering such a product in the near future. His confidence and thorough research mythology impressed those who attended his presentation.( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )