Jenna Materna

For Jenna Materna, engineering has always been about building access as much as solutions.

Materna found her path to studying biomedical engineering at the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering and medicinal chemistry at The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University through her desire to help people in a meaningful, tangible way.

While conducting research under Associate Professor Jessica Weaver, Materna worked on hydrogel-based biomaterials for immunoengineering applications, contributing to advancements in cell-based therapies. Her research efforts were acknowledged beyond the lab bench when she co-authored a pending publication in Cell Biomaterials and presented at multiple conferences, including the Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative Symposium and the 2025 Grand Challenges Scholars Program Annual Meeting. 

At the same time, Materna sought to address immediate, patient-centered challenges. As student venture team lead of ENDOGuard, she guided the development of a noninvasive diagnostic tool for endometriosis, an underdiagnosed condition that affects millions. Under her leadership, the team was selected for the VentureWell E-Team Pioneer Program and awarded a $5,000 accelerator grant.

“This experience pushed me to grow not just as an engineer, but as a leader,” she says. “It reinforced my commitment to developing solutions that directly improve patient outcomes.”

Materna also explored the human side of healthcare innovation. Through her honors thesis, she developed Building Bridges, a language exchange platform to improve communication between providers and refugee patients, and presented this work at the ASEE 2025 Annual Meeting. 

Her commitment to service extended into the community. Through Engineering Projects in Community Service, she led the design of adaptive snowboard bindings for a double above-the-knee amputee, creating a solution that improved comfort and mobility. With Refugee Integration, Stability and Empowerment, she tutored and mentored refugee students, helping them navigate educational systems and build confidence.

Materna’s efforts have been widely recognized. Materna is a New American University Scholar, a Grand Challenges Scholar through the National Academy of Engineering and a multiple-time Dean’s List honoree. 

She hopes to ultimately work at the intersection of medicine and engineering in humanitarian and crisis settings, contributing both as a physician and innovator to develop tools that better equip medical providers in underserved and conflict-affected regions. After graduation, Materna will continue her journey at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, where she will pursue her medical degree through the Primary Care Accelerated Program.

Favorites

Hobby: Rock climbing
Band: Hozier
Movie: Rogue One
TV show: The Pitt
Activity: Working out

Read about other exceptional graduates of the Fulton Schools’ spring 2026 class.

Written by Hannah Weisman