Zach Pagnani

Zack Pagnani is from Washington, NC and majored in Engineering with Math and Biology minors. Zach’s interests lie primarily in the iterative Engineering design process and Wake Engineering has provided Zach with the opportunity to cultivate this passion through many different avenues of research and class projects. He has also gained interests in biomaterials, another passion that was exposed to him through the engineering program. Through his technical elective classes and collaboration with surrounding faculty in the area, Zach has been able to build upon and further pursue this interest.

Zach worked as a research assistant for Dr. Luthy on the production of a pressure vessel that would aid in the anti-biofouling of coral reef monitoring systems in collaboration with the WFU Biology Department. His particular research involved practice of his knowledge in Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and 3D printing as well as material analysis and testing. His fondest memory is of testing the pressure vessel during his undergraduate research out on a lake in the rain with biology department faculty. He also shares that he thinks “fondly on the 48-72 hour grind of assembling pressure vessels with Dr. Luthy” in the summer of 2019. Zach also worked for Dr. Brown at Innovation Quarter’s Biotech Place as a lab technician for their Carbon Resin Printer. During his internship, he assisted in the polish and processing of the resin printed parts that were used for graduate research. Extracurricularly, Zach is a member of Wake Club Tennis and climbing team. Zach’s plans after graduation include applying to graduate institutes specifically for materials and biomedical engineering.

AUTHOR: DANETTE GALINDO-MARTINEZ