Panelist Bios

Information about the 2022 CRIDC panelists will be available in January 2022. See the information below for the 2021 panelist bios. 

2021 CRIDC Panelists

Chloe Arson 
Associate Professor, Georgia Tech
Job Description: I am an Associate Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). I teach undergraduate and graduate classes in mechanics and computational methods, and I advise undergraduate and graduate students on research projects. The work include applying for funding to the National Science Foundation, the Department of Transportation, the industry and other entities, planning the research work and supervising students on research tasks, doing some of these research tasks, in particular some theoretical derivation and programming tasks, editing reports and theses authored by my students, and disseminating research findings through journal and conference publications. My research is in damage and healing mechanics, homogenization theory, computational geomechanics, numerical modeling of multi-scale fracture propagation, underground storage and bio-inspired burrowing mechanics. I received two PhD research prizes in 2010, the NSF CAREER award in 2016 and the inter-disciplinary research award of Georgia Tech School of CEE in 2017. I chair the EMI Poromechanics Committee and I serve as the Associate Editor of the Journal of Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering and of the Journal of Engineering Mechanics, and I chair committees on international initiatives and diversity and inclusion in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech.
Degrees: Ph.D. in Geomechanics, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (France), M.Sc. in Soil and Rock Mechanics, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (France), M. Eng. in Civil Engineering, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (France), Bachelor’s (two-year program) in Philosophy, University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne (France)
Website/LinkedIn: http://arson.ce.gatech.edu/

Nico Beskid
Consultant, Bain & Company
Job Description: Develop and implement business management principles across various topics for our clients.
Degrees: Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Georgia Tech, Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, and Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from Florida State University. 
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicobeskid/

Stephen Browning
Assistant Director, Blood Pressure and Flow Devices, FDA
Degrees: Bachelor’s in Biomedical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-browning-67a0922a/

Anup Chandora
M.S. Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Former R & D Engineer, Becton Dickinson
Job Description: While working as an R&D Engineer at Becton Dickinson (BD), I became the founder and president of an LGBT Employee Resource Group (ERG) to increase the visibility, opportunity, and acceptance of the LGBT community in my workplace.
Degrees: Bachelor’s in Biomedical Engineering from Georgia Tech
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anupchandor

Shireen Datta
Graduate Student in Aerospace Engineering and Grad SWE executive member, Georgia Tech
Job Description: As a Master’s student at the Aerospace Systems Design Lab, I am currently working with industry partners on projects that explore topics within sustainable aviation and advanced concepts, e.g. optimizing certification processes of novel aircraft and fleet-level emissions modeling. Outside of my research, I am actively involved in DEI activities, through my role as a WoAA (Women of Aeronautics & Astronautics) volunteer and my role on the executive board of GradSWE at Georgia Tech.
Degrees: Master’s in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech and BEng in Mechanical Engineering from Trinity College Dublin, 2019.
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shireendatta/

Stephanie Duncanson
Senior Director of Corporate Strategy and Business Development, Oncorus
Job Description: I lead Corporate Strategy and Business Development at Oncorus, a company that is developing a pipeline of viral immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer. I previously worked as a life science consultant for Clarion Healthcare, advising biopharmaceutical companies on a range of topics from portfolio management to product launch.
Degrees: Ph.D in Bioengineering from Georgia Tech, Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-duncanson-a400a32/

Nathan Evans 
Vice President Technology & Strategy, restor3d
Job Description: I lead new product development at restor3d, a company leveraging expertise in 3D printing to deliver innovative medical device solutions.
Degrees: Ph.D. and Bachelor’s in Materials Science and Engineering from Georgia Tech 
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evansnathan/

Gretchen Goldman
Research Director, Center for Science and Democracy, Union of Concerned Scientists
Job Description: I do scientific analysis, advocacy, and communication for policymaking.
Degrees: PH.D. and Master’s from Georgia Tech, Bachelor’s from Cornell University.
Website/LinkedIn: https://twitter.com/GretchenTG

Michael Griffin
Product Manager, Cook MyoSite
Job Description:  I lead the product strategy of Cook MyoSite's autologous muscle derived cell therapy for the non-urology indications of the company's clinical portfolio.
Degrees: Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Georgia Tech, Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, and Bachelor’s in Bioengineering from University of Pittsburgh
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/griffin-michael

Calicia Johnson
Strategy & Development Engineer, Chevron North America Exploration & Production
Job Description: Calicia Johnson is currently a Strategy and Development Engineer at Chevron for production facilities and well pads in West Texas. She is responsible for developing the long-term field strategy and front end design for the development area. Prior to this role, she was a Water Strategy and Planning Manager, responsible for developing water supply, transportation, processing and disposal strategies, to support drilling and completions activity.
Degrees: Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana State University and Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Florida A&M University
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caliciajohnson/

Naiki Kaffezakis
Student Researcher and Health Physics Technician, Grad Pride at Georgia Tech
Job Description: When I am not working as a researcher or monitoring the radiation exposure to our campus, I am the senior executive of Grad Pride at GT and am responsible for setting the programming and running the behind the scenes logistics.
Degrees: Master’s in Nuclear Engineering, Bachelor’s in Nuclear and Radiological Engineering, and Bachelor’s in Physics from Georgia Tech

Kai Littlejohn
Graduate Research Assistant, Georgia Tech-Emory University
Job Description: Kai Littlejohn worked as a former summer research intern in the Nanotechnology Core evaluating the immuno-toxicity of chemotherapy drugs and is a full-time researcher in the Office of Woman’s Health evaluating known epigenetic drugs for utility in cancer therapies.
Degrees: Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from Tuskegee University
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kai-littlejohn-98039ba2

Cong Luo
Associate Consultant at McKinsey & Company, Founder of Grad Pride at Georgia Tech
Degrees: Ph.D in Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering from Georgia Tech, Bachelor’s in Environmental Science fromTongji University
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/congluo1992/

Xuetian Ma
Associate, McKinsey & Company
Job Description: I am a strategy consultant advising clients across industries on digital topics including cost efficiency solutions, operating model, agile, and digital talents etc.
Degrees: Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xuetian-ma-52703266/

Oliver Moreno
Graduate Research Assistant, Georgia Tech
Job Description: Research focus is the application of organic electronics to meet application-specific needs. Thesis research focuses on exploring the use of organic electronic materials for applications in health-conscious, human-centric lighting using 3D printing. Studying organic molecules for the development of low-cost, large-area photodetectors for radiation detection applications.
Degrees: Master’s and Bachelor’s in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Tech
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-moreno-techpreneur

Abhirup (Abhi) Mukherjee
Associate, McKinsey and Company
Job Description: I help organizations solve their key business problems.
Degrees: Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Georgia Tech
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhi-abhirup-m-5360a819/

Tegra Myanna
Director, LGBTQIA Resource Center, Georgia Tech
Job Description: I oversee the LGBTQIA Resource Center, we provide programming, training, and education around issues of gender and sexuality at Tech.
Degrees: Master’s and Bachelor’s from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Mohammed Nazemi 
Postdoctoral Fellow, Georgia Tech
Job Description: I am currently leading a project to develop electrochemical technologies for renewable fuel and fertilizer production with the overarching goal to surpass the performance of current fossil fuel-driven processes for chemical production.
Degrees: Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, Master's in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Tech, Bachelor's in Aerospace Engineering from Sharif University.
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammadreza-nazemi

Aby Parsons
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager, Georgia Power
Job Description: I create and oversee the diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy for Georgia Power, and manage the team responsible for DEI training, development, communications, and consulting.
Degrees: Ph.D. in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Emory University, MRes (Master's by Research) from University of Central Lancashire, and Bachelor’s in American Studies from University of Central Lancashire
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aby-parsons-ph-d-b985662b/

Yogi Patel
Co-Founder and CEO, Focused Cryo, Inc
Job Description: I lead all aspects of bringing a novel new medical device technology to the market - product development, fundraising, regulatory/reimbursement/business strategy, and pre-clinical and clinical testing.
Degrees: Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Georgia Tech and Bachelor's in Math, Computer Science and Biochemistry from Mercer University
Website/LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/yapatel/
 

Dylan Son
Ph.D. Student, Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Tech
Job Description: I am a PhD student in the BME department and am primarily working on instrumentation of new optical fluorescence microscopy systems.
Degrees: Bachelor’s in Biomedical Engineering, Yonsei University, Korea
Website/LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dylanson/

Jordan Taylor
Master’s Student, Computer Science, Georgia Tech
Job Description: I'm a research assistant working at the intersection of social computing, mental health, and AI, advised by Dr. Munmun De Choudhury, and I'm a graduate teaching assistant for Intro AI.
Degrees: Bachelor’s in Computer Science from the Georgia Tech
Website/LinkedIn: https://jtaylor.gay/

Karen Yiu
Program Director of Student Diversity Programs, Georgia Tech
Job Description: Manage, design, and implement programmatic initiatives regarding diversity and inclusion for students on Georgia Tech's campus.
Degrees: Master’s of Business Administration from Georgia Tech, Master’s of Education from the University of Georgia, and Bachelor’s from the University of Michigan 
Website/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-yiu/