IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2011 - 6

The research conducted by
Sunita Chauhan (second from
the left) aids many different
clinical disciplines at Nanyang
Technological University in
Singapore.

by media in the United Kingdom. Chau(CSIO), in Chandigarh, India, and the
han continued with her efforts and says
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), in
Imperial now has a team of minimally
Delhi. Chauhan says she also held coninvasive and noninvasive robots.
current academic visiting positions at
Since April 1999, Chauhan has been
the University of Delhi, India, as well
working at NTU at the school of mechanias being the director of research and
cal and aerospace engineering. She was
development at an educational robotics
assistant professor in the systems and
company in New Delhi. Afterwards, she
engineering management division until
received the commonwealth scholarSeptember 2005 and then went
ship award from the British govon to become associate
ernment, the only women
professor at the mechacandidate to receive
"Teaching
tronics and design
this scholarship
division where she
award in engineerkeeps me
works today. Chauing that year, and
energetically alive
han's research aids
then went on to
through interactions
numerous clinical
earn her doctorate
and exchange of
disciplines such
degree in medical
knowledge with the most
as neurosurgery,
robotics from the
urological applicaImperial College of
enthusiastic group of
tions
(kidney, liver,
Science and Techsociety-students."
lung, and prostate
nology, in London.
among others), breast
Chauhan says at Imperial
cancer management, and
College she worked with one
transabdominal route surgical interof the world's best medical robotics
ventions. In 2003, Chauhan says she initiresearch team with many pioneering
ated a new research impact group named
feats, at the top of which is the world's
biomechatronics at the robotics research
first active medical robot for prostateccenter, NTU. Following this, she was also
tomy [robotic prostatectomy is a treatappointed at NTU as focus-group lead for
ment for prostate cancer]. Chauhan says
biomedical and biorobotics, a subfield of
her doctorate at Imperial in 1999 was
robotics that studies how to make robots
one such pioneering effort for a noninthat emulate or simulate living biological
vasive robot using high intensity focused
organisms mechanically or even chemiultrasound (HIFU) and was well covered

6

IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE

DECEMBER 2011

cally. Chauhan says she is happy that a
part of her research is concentrating on
treatment technologies for women-related
diseases such as breast cancer-the most
common cancer affecting hundreds of
thousands lives worldwide.
When asked what she enjoys most
about her job, Chauhan says, "teaching
keeps me energetically alive through
interactions and exchange of knowledge
with the most enthusiastic group of
society-students. It has never stopped
amazing me. I have a child's excitement
to learn and impart new knowledge, to
find solutions to technically challenging problems that will positively impact
people's lives and to reinvent myself at
each and every stage."
And even though there are challenges
in the engineering field, one being the
fact that it is primarily male oriented, says
Chauhan, it is also a benefit to women.
According to Chauhan, because there are
many more men than women in the field,
this imparts opportunities for very high
visibility to women engineers and their
work. "This in itself is an enabling force
for women to put in extra effort before
their peers and to gain recognition for
their contributions. I see this as the most
rewarding aspect for women, albeit challenging. Visibility is almost instant."
-Nancy Salim



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2011

IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2011 - Cover1
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