UW Bioengineering welcomes current BS Bioengineering students Hani Mahmoud and Rachel Lucero into their new roles as undergraduate peer advisors.

The role of the peer advisors is to help prospective students gain an inside perspective on the UW Bioengineering undergraduate student experience. Peer advisors can answer questions about applying, course scheduling, curriculum, and life as a student in the department.

Hani is a senior and researches in Associate Professor Wendy Thomas’s lab. He is helping design and implement a magnetic tweezer assay to examine the mechanical properties of VWF, a protein that plays a major role in strokes and heart attacks. When not in the lab or class, he works as a student-athlete tutor and volunteers with clubs such as Dream Project, One World Environment, and Bioengineers without Borders. Outside of his numerous academic and service activities, he enjoys traveling, watching wildlife, playing music, and competing in intramural flag football and volleyball. Upon graduating, he intends to travel abroad to work as a research engineer for a few years prior to pursuing an MD/Ph.D., and eventually teaching as a professor.

Rachel is a junior and researches in Assistant Professor Deok Ho-Kim’s lab, where she studies the use of optogenetic tools in pacing heart tissue. Originally from Vancouver, Washington, she enjoys photography, kayaking, cooking with friends, drinking bubble tea, and discovering cult television shows on Netflix in her spare time. After graduation, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. and continue research in regenerative medicine.

Both peer advisors look forward to working with and helping new students discover UW Bioengineering in the coming year. Contact the peer advisors via our online contact form.