What if we played science?: Michelle Khine at TEDxSanJuanCapistrano

Michelle Khine
problem solver -- role model
University of California at Irvine, Professor

"I think I have an added responsibility to be a good role model. I get a lot of emails from girls interested in going into science and engineering and you have to prove that you are getting there not because you are a woman or because you are riding anything else, but because you are just as good, if not better, than the guys in the field. You have to be uncompromising with the quality of your work."

Michelle is a distinguished and creative scientist at the University of California, Irvine who was recognized in 2009 as one of the Top 35 Innovators Under 35 in the world by MIT Technology Review. She has found creative solutions for biomedical supplies in the area of nanotechnology and served on review committees including the Center for Scientific Review and the National Institutes of Health.

Following innovative work as a founding professor of the School of Engineering at University of California, Merced, Michelle joined the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at UCI. As an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, she experiments with childhood toys to solve some tricky problems. Her research has furthered advances in biological research and medical diagnostics.

Michelle is widely published with multiple patents, grants and honors. Not stopping there, her goal is to improve substandard health care in the developing world. She thinks she can produce medical testing devices at a fraction of the cost of similar products, eliminating one of the primary obstacles to effective health services. Creating products at a low cost will enable their widespread use, allowing for earlier detection of preventable and treatable illnesses that often go undiagnosed and untreated in the developing world.

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In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)