NU Splash Biography

Brief Biographical Sketch:

Hi everyone! My name is Maggie Swerdloff. I'm a Ph.D. student studying biomedical engineering at Northwestern.

A little bit about my educational journey: After graduating from high school, I went to college at New College of Florida, which is a small public liberal arts college in Florida. At New College, I was briefly a pre-medical student before I got interested in studying chemistry. I was fortunate enough to receive 3 research scholarships to study chemistry and biology in places across the world, from the Amazon Rainforest in Iquitos, Peru, to the southern coast of France, to right here in your backyard in Chicago, IL. While I could have done both pre-med and chemistry/biology, I decided pre-med was not the route for me. However, I was still in interested in creating and studying medical devices, which is why I decided to study biomedical engineering for my Ph.D.

During my Ph.D., I learned all about prosthetic limbs and how they are controlled. Now in my 4th year, my current research focuses on understanding how we can use neuroscience to enhance powered limb prostheses.

In my free time I like to bike along the Chicago lakefront, go sailing on lake Michigan (when it's warm out), go rock climbing, tend to my numerous houseplants, and play the clarinet, guitar, and ukulele.

Past Classes