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The members of HPN are all recent graduates of Rice University majoring in bioengineering, and each member specialized in a specific track of study. Each person in HPN has different skills and played a different role to help complete the project. At the same time, we have excellent interpersonal dynamics, with flexiblility and synergy as hallmarks of our teamwork. In completing various tasks including compiling reports, analyzing our prototype, and managing logistics, our team always worked together. However, the team leader changed throughout the year so that everyone had an opportunity to coordinate team activities.

Eric L. Vu (cellular and molecular engineering) served as the first team leader and manages project communications, including external contacts and official reports and presentations. Eric has researched with Dr. Ken Fujise in the University of Texas Institute of Molecular Medicine and Dr. John Hazle at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Eric is renowned in the Rice bioengineering community for his ability to fall asleep while walking. This Sugar Land, TX resident utilizes his ninja skills at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX.

Peter J. Yang (biomaterials and biomechanics) served as second team leader (to Oct. 26, 2005) and oversees finances as well as technology resources, including this website. Peter has contributed to research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology, and Rice University under Dr. Jennifer West. Peter has a tremendous ability to absorb knowledge while snoring in class. He is a doctorate student in ninja arts (i.e. bioengineering) at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA.

Elaine F. T. Chan (biomaterials and biomechanics) served as third team leader (to Nov. 30, 2005) and currently acts as lead researcher and chief of internal operations. Elaine has had extensive research experience at both NIH and MIT. She is obsessed with good-looking male Korean pop stars, and she also enjoys long walks on the beach as well as late night UV-lit cell culturing sessions. Elaine will study ninjutsu techniques as part of obtaining her doctorate degree in bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego.

Cynthia J. T. Chang (cellular and molecular engineering) is the current team leader (to Feb. 15, 2006); she also serves as both resource coordinator and outreach coordinator for HPN. She has worked at the Naval Research Laboratory, Queen Mary University of London, and MIT. In her spare time, she likes to meow and grow algae. After graduating from Rice, she intends to devote her life to the deadly art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu while continuing on to graduate school in bioengineering at the ninja school in Oxford Unversity in England.

Alexander C. Gordon (biomaterials and biomechanics) will serve as the final leader and currently directs prototype fabrication and testing. Alex has devoted his undergraduate life to the engineering service organization Engineers Without Borders. He has researched at Northwestern University, the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology at Rice University, and at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He is also an exceptional volleyball player, especially with his twin brother Alex Number One at his side. Alex is currently seeking a graduate degree in stealth technologies (management science and engineering) at Stanford University.