Faculty

Vijay Vedula, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Vijay received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, working under Prof. Rajat Mittal. He gained his postdoctoral research experience at UCSD and Stanford University with Prof. Alison Marsden. Vijay received a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK), India, and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Trichy, India. His Master’s thesis was supervised by Prof. Tapan Sengupta. His research interests are in the areas of cardiovascular biomechanics, computational fluid dynamics, fluid-structure interaction, and more recently, multiphysics modeling, inverse analysis, machine learning, uncertainty quantification, etc.

Research Scholars

Postdocs

Ashley Hiebing, Ph.D.
A Wisconsin native, Ashley received a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Milwaukee School of Engineering and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is excited to bring her background in cardiovascular modeling to CBRL and apply it to the simulation of pediatric and adult pathologies. In her free time, Ashley enjoys going to concerts, weightlifting, and learning languages.

Students

Yurui Chen, Ph.D. Student

Yurui did his B.S. at Tsinghua University in China, and MS at Columbia University, before joining CBRL. Yurui is excited to work on using predictive modeling with uncertainty to assist surgical decision-making in patients with borderline left ventricles, and to perform FSI simulations in patients with ascending aortic aneurysms. In his free time, Yurui likes to spend time with his cat, play poker and tennis, and explore restaurants in NYC.

Hannah Zhai, Ph.D. Student
NSF GRF 2024
Hannah grew up in Madison, WI, and got her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Her research interests include using both experimental methods and computational modeling for biomechanical applications. Hannah is excited to apply these tools to study aortic root aneurysms. When not working, Hannah enjoys traveling, skiing, and exploring new restaurants.

Bryan Gan, Ph.D. Student
Boyang (Bryan) Gan received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley. His prior work at the Shadden Lab involves developing reduced-order and image-based models of the aorta. Bryan is excited to become a member of CBRL to continue pushing the boundaries of computational modeling of the cardiovascular system. Fun facts about Bryan: he is an aspiring home cook, an ultimate frisbee athlete, and a music enthusiast

Olivia Mergler Rose, Ph.D. Student
NSF GRF 2024
Olivia grew up in Woodbridge, Virginia, and received her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Virginia. She has found a passion for using computational modeling to improve understanding of fundamental women’s health biomechanics and is excited to continue exploring this interest with the CBRL. Outside of research, Olivia enjoys yoga, calligraphy, and trying out local restaurants. Olivia is co-advised by Prof. Kristin Myers.

Parker Roman Mixon, Ph.D. Student
Parker received his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the New York Institute of Technology and an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University. As an undergraduate, he worked to apply virtual reality to study cardiac electrophysiology and movement disorders. At CBRL, he is excited to study the contractility of the pregnant uterus using multi-scale and multi-physics modeling. Parker enjoys learning languages and trying new coffee shops in his free time.

Xin Feng, M.S. Student
Xin received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Sichuan University. He is particularly interested in neural signaling and human biomechanics. He is excited to join the CBRL to learn and explore computational modeling of the cardiovascular system. In his free time, he enjoys watching films and playing badminton.

Shenghao (Kevin) Hong, M.S. Student
Kevin received his B.S. in Physics from the University of Rochester and is currently pursuing his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Columbia University. Driven by his interest in motorsports, Kevin began his exploration of computational methods through mesh validation projects at the FLASH Center and a vortex generator project. At CBRL, Kevin wishes to deepen his understanding of simulation workflows and wishes to explore data-driven methods. Kevin is an avid golfer.

Shaheer Saleh, M.S. Student
Shaheer grew up in Cairo, Egypt, and received a BS in mechanical engineering from Binghamton University in May 2025. During his undergrad, he researched the aerodynamic performance of the Binghamton Motorsports formula car and was introduced to CFD. He also used Ansys Fluent to study the power efficiency of VAWTs. Shaheer enjoys watching football, playing golf, and going to concerts.

Kristina Dee, B.S. Student
Kristina is an undergraduate Mechanical Engineering student at Columbia. Her expertise lies in the intersection of computational modeling, mechanics, and machine learning (reinforcement learning). She is passionate about energy systems, disaster relief, and biomechanics. Kristina grew up in the Philippines and enjoys concerts, films, bass and guitar, and mixed-media art. At CBRL, she will work with Olivia Mergler on modeling and simulating uterine contractions in late-stage pregnancy.

Eva Melendrez, B.S. Student
SEAS Fellow 2025
Eva grew up in Las Vegas, NV, and is currently a sophomore studying Mechanical Engineering at Columbia. Eva’s passion lies in exploring the intersections of healthcare and engineering, with a focus on women’s health.

Visiting Student Interns

Kashvi Aggarwal, Ph.D.
Kashvi Aggarwal is a final-semester undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Goa. Kashvi is excited to expand her knowledge in cardiovascular biomechanics and modeling, with a particular focus on the aorta and coronary arteries. Outside of research, Kashvi enjoys photography, exploring new cities, and discovering good coffee spots.

Alumni

Elise Yang joined CBRL as an undergraduate freshman in the Summer of 2022 and contributed to studying aortic aneurysm disease. Elise received a Bonomi scholarship from SEAS, including a full summer stipend for her work. Elise is currently pursuing a PhD at Stanford.

Lei Shi received his Ph.D. from the Myers lab in Columbia and moved across the floor to CBRL as a postdoctoral research fellow. Currently, Lei is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Kennesaw State University.

Kewei was part of CBRL as an Associate Research Scientist, with a primary appointment at the Department of Surgery, CUMC. His research was focused on performing fluid-structure interaction simulations in a prosthetic pediatric heart valve device.

Yeqing Ni joined CBRL as an M.S. student and assisted graduate student Yurui Chen in performing multiscale models of blood flow in the aorta and coronary arteries. Yeqing is pursuing a PhD at Northeastern University.

Chen Zhang, an M.S. student at CBRL, researched and implemented myocyte activation models for the left atrium and Purkinje fibers.

Prince Mwenda Kagunyi was part of CBRL as a double major undergraduate and was mentored by Hannah Haider to build myocardium models in health and disease.

Hannah Haider was part of CBRL when she received her M.S.. She developed personalized models of left ventricular mechanics and was awarded an NSF Fellowship for her work. We wish her all the best for her doctoral studies in Myers lab.

Yiding Wen, an M.S. student at CBRL, enhanced our digital twinning pipeline for neonates with borderline left ventricles. Yiding is currently pursuing a PhD at Peking University.