Carol Lu

Grand Challenges Scholar Carol Lu is graduating this spring from the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University with a degree in biomedical engineering. Her educational journey began with a strong passion for protecting human health and creating technologies that enhance lives. Influenced by her father, who fostered a love for STEM, Lu was drawn to biomedical engineering by her childhood experiences with degenerative diseases and a desire to develop more effective, less invasive treatments. 

One of the most unexpected aspects of her studies was the emphasis on product design and development. Her program’s distinctive “Design Spine” and other lab and project-based courses, consistently challenged her to move beyond simple memorization and instead articulate the motivations, methods and implications of the designs she created. It was this process — the iterative refinement and testing of ideas — that sustained her interest and inspired her to pursue research and innovation with lasting impact.

She came to see engineering not just as a career, but as a lens through which she approaches the world — breaking complex problems into tractable pieces and building solutions that truly matter. Guided by her father’s belief of “learning to love what you do through the action of doing it,” she discovered that meaningful innovation comes from engaging with the process, not merely from the end result.

During her time at ASU, Lu participated in extracurricular activities such as GCSP, EPICS, iGEM and research labs. Her notable accomplishments include organizing the first-ever GCSP Network Meeting at ASU and presenting at the GCSP Conference at USC on the importance of communicating the “why” behind engineering projects — a lesson drawn from her EPICS Global work in Vietnam, where she and her team helped develop a water quality sensor for shrimp farmers. These projects revealed the direct connection between engineering practice and global, human-centered impact. 

Mentorship played a key role in her development. In the research labs of Steve Pressé, associate professor in the School of Molecular Sciences and Department of Physics, and Hakan Ceylan, assistant professor at the Mayo Clinic, she was encouraged to take intellectual ownership of her work, propose new directions and think deeply about the foundational questions driving their research. Her teaching and leadership experiences reinforced her belief in the power of engineering and solidified her dedication to improving lives through engineering.

After graduation, Lu plans to pursue a doctoral degree in biochemistry, applying biophysical modeling to design precision tools for targeted therapies. She draws on experience in bacterial dynamics, polymer mechanics and stochastic inference, hoping to one day mentor future engineers.

Read about other exceptional graduates of the Fulton Schools’ spring 2025 class here.