Shubhra Gangopadhyay is the one of the few female faculty at MU’s Center for Micro/Nano Systems and Nanotechnology. She’s also the one in charge of developing the center. In the Electrical and Computer Engineering department, of which Gangopadhyay is the LaPierre Endowed Chair Professor, she is one of three women. “There is a shortage of female scientists and female professors, in general,” Gangopadhyay says. “And in engineering, it is really not good.”

Gangopadhyay’s favorite project is an inexpensive test for certain kinds of metabolic activity. This test is important for patients infected with HIV and TB. Much like today’s pregnancy tests, this new technology would offer an inexpensive way to help AIDS-infected patients. She hopes to see the test used in those countries most severely impacted by the diease.