Michelle Mellenthin, PhD

Michelle Mellenthin, PhD. is Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, CO. She has more than a decade of experience studying the lungs through a biomedical engineering lens. As part of her graduate work, she designed and built an electrical impedance imaging device to image regional ventilation and perfusion in the chest. Recently (2016–2019), she trained in pulmonary biomechanics on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, creating patient-specific predictive models to try to identify safe ventilation in animals with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). One of her main areas of research interest is the associated ventilator-induced lung injury that can occur in mechanically ventilated ARDS patients. Additionally, she has experience on various international projects. She first became a volunteer for EWB in 2006 and has travelled on several project trips. She also spent one year in Sao Paulo, Brazil working on a collaborative research project. During the spring of 2020, she consulted with UW–Madison students and other EWB professionals to discuss the use of mechanical ventilators in Guatemala.