Hannah Varner | engineer

About

ABOUT ME

I approach my work by asking: how can scientific resources be used to answer questions with interdisciplinary impact? Some days, I wear the hat of an experimentalist studying the mechanics of biological tissue in the Cohen Lab for Nonlinear Solid Mechanics where I completed my PhD in September 2024. Other days, I approach this through the lens of science policy, discussing how scientists and engineers can be involved in government policy making from the local to federal levels. All the while, I focus on technical communication, having worked as a communication fellow and department liaison at MIT providing peer coaching in technical communication from the department qualifying exam, to journal manuscripts.

Improving human health and welfare, and enabling the teams around me, are common themes amongst many of the projects I have worked on.

My motivation

The biggest obstacles to solving a problem often aren’t technical, but are still strategic puzzles. Answers might come from better identifying a root cause or upstream solution, finding a team that lets every individual best use their skills, or rewriting a policy.

Having worked at Draper, I know the value of rigorous technical solutions in the pursuit of solving mission-driven engineering challenges. However, I've also seen how critical the programmatic structure, infrastructure, and leadership that supports engineers is to realizing success in projects.

Throughout my PhD I worked to create positive and productive communities whenever I can. I supported my peers in the difficult stretches of grad school as a communication coach and peer mentor. I enabled friends and colleagues to develop their interests through organizing science policy trips to Washington DC for the Science Policy Initiative and to the Collegiate National Championships for the MIT club cycling team.

The technical depth I gained from my PhD, alongside a desire to "make the system work" for those working in it, lets me be more creative when prioritizing the scarce resources of time, money, and people's emotional bandwidth. I look forward to working at this intersection of research and strategy after my PhD.

motivation

My Work

Most recently my work has been primarily in experimental solid mechanics. I also have a background in design (for under resourced settings) and aerospace microelectronics and nanosatellites. For a list of my publications and patents, see Google Scholar.

Whole blood clot and liver elasticity

I want to help doctors better understand disease by quantifying the mechanical stiffness of biological tissues. Whenever you palpate for nodules or muscle knots you are feeling a change in mechanical stiffness. By measuring the elasticity of whole blood clots or liver, I am proving a new method for testing and analysis that could be used to improve diagnostics.

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Minimally disruptive soft material testing

I want to overcome the limitations of conventional mechanical testing to find the mechanical properties of soft materials. Engineers need to know much energy is required to stretch and break a material in order to keep people and products safe. Volume controlled cavity expansion allows me to explore the elasticity and fracture toughness of silicone rubbers.

Home desalination

I want to provide a water- and energy-efficient solution for brackish water desalination to consumers who would benefit. Working with the leading manufacturer of home water purifiers in India, I designed an electrodialysis desalination device tailored to the market demands and user needs.

Microelectronic packaging design

I want to build hardware that enables critical missions. At Draper we were asked to come up with solutions to problems with critical national significance. I designed microelectronic systems with innovative technologies, and managed the production of hardware for million dollar contracts. I was part of award winning teams that worked together to build reliable systems, on schedule, meeting the mission needs of our customers, and were just super cool.

EQUiSat

I want to show that complicated scientific missions like launching a satellite, can be accessible to anyone through open sourcing in house designs and building a worldwide community. As an early manager on the EQUiSat project, I helped design, build, and launch a functional satellite that was visible on earth for almost 3 years. I set the stage for the project's later success through co-writing the launch application to NASA and leading the mechanical design team.