Awards & RecognitionChemical engineering professor impresses national engineering education organization

National organization recognizes student's achievments

Faculty member recognized for dedication to students

Boeing—the world’s leading aerospace company—selects BCoE aerospace professor for Boeing Welliver Faculty Fellowship Program

BCoE & MSU Quick LinkBagley College of Engineering

Mississippi State University

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Special Podcast Release    "Science Guy" visits MSU
Thanks to his energetic performances on television, Bill Nye is known to most as the “Science Guy,” but during a recent visit to MSU he reveled his other passions. Nye is a strong supporter of science education because he knows the future of our world will soon be in the hands of today’s children. While visiting campus, he also took the time to discuss hybrid vehicles with members of the BCoE’s national champion Challenge X team. Nye was given the opportunity to drive the vehicle and inspect the students’ craftsmanship while examining the inner-workings of the car.
Click here to listen.

Momentum Preview    Click here to download and see Momentum before it goes out in the mail. Hard copies will be arriving in your mailboxes later this May.

College students teach lessons of prevention

Scott Metzler, a second-year biological engineering Ph.D. student, moved nearly 2,000 miles from his home in San Diego, Calif., to study heart valve disease research at the Bagley College of Engineering (BCoE). Born with a congenital heart defect, Metzler has a faulty heart valve, so his reasons for studying the disease are not only professional, but also personal.

“Growing up, I’d always had great pediatric cardiologists and they just inspired me. I’ve been very lucky and very blessed. I’ve dodged a couple of bullets,” explained Metzler. “I was supposed to get a new valve when I was 18, but since I‘ve stayed relatively healthy, I’ve been able to push that back now for seven years.”

Metzler “knocked on wood,” as he shared that he has been fortunate to have only one open-heart surgery to patch his faulty valve when he was very young. Pediatric cardiologists try to avoid replacing heart valves with mechanical ones because they have a short life span and they do not grow as children grow, meaning kids could undergo as many as three or more open-heart surgeries during their childhood and adolescence alone. Growing up facing those kinds of odds is why Metzler is so passionate about working on cutting-edge research that studies ways of how to grow new pediatric heart valves.

"My bachelor’s degree is in biomedical engineering. After I received my undergraduate degree I took the Medical College Application Test and was planning on going to medical school,” explained Metzler. “My plans changed when the BCoE gave me an opportunity to work with heart valve disease research. It’s a rare opportunity because only five places in North America conduct heart valve research, and the BCoE is definitely one of the up and comers in the heart valve research field.”

Working on figuring out how to grow new heart valves for children who suffer from valve disease and deformities is a childhood dream for Metzler. However, he feels there is another purpose as to why he is here in Mississippi.

“We had been researching all the biological mechanisms behind heart valve disease and as we did that we kept coming across some mind-blowing statistics,” explained Metzler. “Mississippi ranks as the fattest state in the country, and those numbers have doubled in the last few years. Obesity causes high-risk diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hypertension.”

Shocked by the numbers of Mississippians at risk, Metzler wanted to make an impact through education. As a result, he and some of his biomedical engineer classmates put together the Bulldogs for Heart Health (BH2) outreach group.

“Looking at the trends of childhood obesity is even scarier,” said Metzler. “In the last five years it has gone up tremendously, so we wanted to form this group so we could help kids find fun ways to get into better shape and eat healthier.”

Forty-three percent of adolescents spend more than two hours a day watching television or playing computer games. Those sedentary activities have contributed to tripling the numbers of children who are obese today compared to those 20 years ago. Steven Waller, co-founder, vice president and webmaster of BH2, wants to help children think differently about the way they prepare and eat food.

“A lot of kids are used to microwaving macaroni and cheese and eating it as a snack,” Waller said. “If we can go into the schools and educate them on why it is important to make healthy food choices, such as an apple, then maybe the next time they will make healthier choices.”

“Yeah, when I show them my gnarly, open-heart surgery scar, it seems to get their attention,” said Metzler.

For more information about BH2 or to invite them to speak at your school, visit www.bh2.org.msstate.edu.

By: Diane Godwin