Case study: Frederik Lange

2016 CDT student Rick Lange seeks to work on hardware and software for biomedical imaging applications

Rick has only just begun his CDT career. He came to the programme as a professional Electrical, Control and Instrumentation engineer, who had been working for a project engineering company in South Africa’s mining sector. His interest was engaged in biomedical imaging, at least in part, by his wife’s experiences as a medical doctor. This interest was sharpened by the South African context of a highly-stressed medical system, where the costs and waiting times for scans are becoming an increasingly large problem

Project

In looking for training which would allow him to change his career trajectory, one of the biggest draws to ONBI was the multidisciplinary aspect of the training. He was excited by the opportunity of working closely with a cohort sharing a common interest in biomedical imaging, but drawn from a wide range of backgrounds. He hoped they would provide him with a broader perspective on his own work. An additional influencing factor was that academics associated with ONBI are working closely with the UK Biobank project. Finally, he was attracted by the strong ties between ONBI and industry, as he believes partnerships of this nature create an environment with the highest chance of producing research with major real-world applications.

Rick will be seeking a DPhil project involving the development of hardware and software for biomedical imaging applications. In the long run he is looking forward to a career developing fit-for-purpose, low-cost imaging solutions that have the potential for global impact on healthcare. He has a firm belief in research directed towards addressing real-world problems, be that in industry, or in academia partnered with industry.