Biography

Background

Louis van der Elst is a citizen of France raised in Luxembourg. He graduated from the Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 2015, specializing in control systems and energy conversion, and completing a minor in Engineering Leadership Development. In 2017, he graduated from the University of Luxembourg with a Master of Science in Engineering, in Sustainable Product Creation, where he worked for the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine and the Research Unit in Engineering Sciences.

His work experience includes interning at ATEQ in the United States in 2014, as an R&D engineer, and as a production and automation intern at EJSEN in China in 2016, working on human-robot collaboration.

Louis has been a doctoral student in Intelligent Systems Engineering at Indiana University since 2017, specializing in bioengineering, and works as a research assistant for the Fibers & Additive Manufacturing Enabled Systems Laboratory. He was the second doctoral student to join the FAMES Lab and worked on the creation of the bioengineering research capabilities of the lab. This included equipment installation, operation, and biosafety protocol implementation. His research focuses on developing biosynthetic interfaces for biomedical applications, such as the monitoring and control of cell growth in tissue constructs.

On August 22, 2024, Louis successfully defended his thesis, titled "Multi-scale Engineering of Device Architecture for a Prescribed Biomedical Function." His doctoral committee consisted of Dr. Alexander Gumennik, Dr. Maria Bondesson, Dr. Greg Lewis, and Dr. Gregory Borschel. His thesis explores the application of VLSI-Fi technology and additive manufacturing in biomedical engineering, with key applications including gastrointestinal experimental models, tissue engineering strategies, rapid fabrication for emergency scenarios, and the inhibition of pathogen growth in wound healing.

Projects

  • Fiber-based biosensors
  • Bioprinting for tissue engineering

Research