Engineers for Infants Project In Loving Memory of Giancarlo Nicoletti October 14, 1994-January 5, 1995 Dedicated on March 11, 1998 to Biomedical Engineering Solutions for High Risk Infants

Our laboratory is primarily dedicated to biomedical signal processing research, with a focus on applications in physiological monitoring. Although many of our projects target adult populations, we have also collaborated with pediatric neurologists in the investigation of electroencephalography (EEG) based seizure prediction and have worked on heart rate variability solutions intended for high risk infants. More recently, we have diversified into biomedical optics and are developing functional optical brain imaging technologies and signal processing methodologies for pediatric populations.

Several students have engaged in research and completed their research assignments in our laboratory. Although each and every one of my students has been special to me, I consider my mentoring Denise Nicoletti during her years at Drexel a highlight of my career as a professor: Denise joined our laboratory as an undergraduate co-op engineer and moved on to conduct her senior engineering design project and her Master's Thesis under my supervision. She later continued her graduate studies in our laboratory and completed her doctoral research, which was jointly advised by Dr. Nihat Bilgutay. Her excellence as a researcher coupled with her leadership qualities earned her an assistant professorship at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute right after her graduation from Drexel. The birth of her first son Giancarlo Nicoletti followed soon after in October 1994; sadly, his life was cut short when he fell prey to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. At his funeral in January 1995, Denise and I resolved to create the "Engineers for Infants Project" dedicated to biomedical engineering solutions for high-risk infants. Our understanding was that she would work toward her tenure and promotion and I would quietly begin fundraising. In March 1998, I was promoted to the H. H. Sun Professorship at Drexel and dedicated the professorship and its funds to the Engineers for Infants Project that Denise and I had envisioned.

Pediatric Engineering Initiative In Loving Memory of Denise Nicoletti Passed Away on June 22, 2002 Dedicated on December 27, 2002 to Biomedical Engineering Solutions for the Care and Development of Infants and Children

In the intervening years, Denise continued her meteoric rise in her academic career and received her tenure and promotion to Associate Professor, while becoming the proud mother of a little girl Celeste and twin boys Lucio and Marcello. On our side, we continued to work on pediatric engineering research projects and initiated a series of lectures in pediatric engineering as part of our BIOMED Seminars: Dr. Arye Rosen and Dr. Harel Rosen were our inaugural speakers.

Great sadness revisited us on July 22, 2002, when we tragically lost Denise to a traffic accident. That Monday, she was again on her way to open the seventh 'Camp Reach,' a summer camp for girls entering sixth grade that introduces them to the wonders of engineering and science. Recognizing from her own experience the importance of exposing young girls to the sciences, Denise co-founded the camp in 1997 and had been its director since that time, quickly turning it into a state-wide phenomenon. Following up on the success of Camp Reach, Denise wanted to develop a program directly with elementary schools to introduce all young children to engineering. In November of 2002, Denise was posthumously awarded a $1 million NSF Grant to develop an engineering curriculum for grades K - 6 in the Worcester, MA Public School System. On December 27th, 2002, when we welcomed back the Nicolettis to our campus to celebrate Denise's loving memory, we dedicated our new and broader scope 'Pediatric Engineering Initiative' to biomedical engineering solutions for the care and development of all children. Although Dr. Arye Rosen had not yet joined our faculty, he led the event, and I knew in my heart that he would soon decide to invest full time in the pediatric engineering cause.

As the stars are lining up to make our dream come true, I have no doubt that we are guided by Denise's spirit: her deep and sincere commitment to children is our North Star.

   Pediatric Engineering Initiative Ceremony Pictures