Tyler Libey breathes bioengineering. Even his Fridays revolve around bioengineering classes, a lab meeting and a bioengineering seminar series that he attends for fun.
Libey is the only undergraduate currently working on the lab’s bioengineering research, as most students in their third year of college aren’t ready to take on the responsibilities that this specific research entails, like independence and an advanced set of math skills.
Libey, a bioengineering junior, recently won a Goldwater Scholarship, which is reserved for sophomores and juniors who academically stand out in mathematics, science and engineering field areas.
He was one of four ASU students who won the scholarship this year out of 278 awarded nationwide.
“I love research and I think that some of the passion kind of showed through on my application,” said Libey, who is also a student in Barrett, the Honors College.
Though he will receive up to $7,500 through the scholarship, his main focus isn’t the money.
“For the most part, I’m just happy to have received the scholarship for the prestige and the title,” he said.
Libey is currently working on his third research project overall and his first with Michael Caplan, a bioengineering associate professor.
The research is focusing on improving technology to treat a deadly type of brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme.
“It’s cool work because I love computers and I love just being able to mess around and learn different programs,” Libey said. “It’s a very powerful modeling program that we’re using to solve this complex problem, but in a lot of ways, it’s a very intuitive, simple solution.”
Libey first showed interest in science, math and engineering in high school, and when he got to ASU, he said he knew he wanted to enroll as a bioengineering major.
He further narrowed his interests after working in an ASU lab with Christine Pauken, a bioengineering faculty research associate.
“She was pretty much the mentor that really got me interested in bioengineering and really fostered that kind of growth,” Libey said. “She got me built up to then do all the other research stuff that I did.”
His other research experience includes working the last summer at University of Washington on biomaterials.
“I learned that while I do find [the biomaterials research] interesting, it’s not necessarily something I want to spend the rest of my career on directly,” Libey said.
However, this research experience possibly helped Libey win the scholarship.
“That was one of the huge things that defined my research experiences,” he said.
After trying different research areas, Libey already knows that he wants to focus on neuroengineering, get his Ph.D in that field and potentially become a teacher in that area.
The research he’s currently working on directly relates to neuroengineering and computational modeling, so he will stay there for the rest of his undergraduate years.
“I know it’s something that I can actually accomplish in my undergrad and will impact lives in the short-term as well as the long-term, as opposed to a long-term project,” Libey said.
Caplan, who heads the current research Libey has been working on for about a year, said he wrote a letter for Libey’s nomination process for the Goldwater Scholarship.
“He’s one of our best students in terms of just his ability to understand what he works on, to do the math that’s involved in engineering [and] to understand how to apply it to things that matter,” he said.
Libey also exceeds those expectations as an undergraduate, Caplan noted.
“He combines that with the utmost in professionalism … [and] independent initiative in terms of him seeking out opportunities like working on this very challenging project,” he said, adding that Libey understands important issues that need to be addressed in bioengineering. “He has a very good sense of why these problems are important to society — not just interesting.”
Currently, Libey is the only undergraduate student in Caplan’s lab.
“A lot of the stuff we do, it’s hard for undergrads to get terribly involved until they’re in their junior and senior years,” Caplan said.
This is because the math and cell biology is difficult for most to learn, as well as the time and dedication required to understand cell culture and the hazards involved.
Pauken, who worked with Libey in a previous lab, now works with Caplan and said Libey was different in the way he approached experiments.
“The other kids just say, ‘Oh, it didn’t work. I’m going to run off to class;” Pauken said. “Tyler is thinking about it all the time. When things don’t work the first or second time, he doesn’t give up.”
Reach the reporter at reweaver@asu.edu
