In Summer 2021, Tumi Adeeko came to Case Western Reserve University’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering as a Wen H. Ko summer intern, working closely with senior research associate Janet Gbur. A mechanical engineering major at Youngstown State University, the main focus of her internship was characterizing dental archwires used in braces based on mechanical properties. Using the scanning electron microscopes at CWRU, she performed tension and fatigue tests on her wires and analyzed their fracture surfaces. She was also a member of the team that worked on getting CWRU's Nanojet Aerosol printer operational and ready to optimize prints. During the 2021-22 academic year, her 2021 internship at CWRU earned her the Cooperative Education & Internship Association’s 2022 Intern of the Year Award after receiving a similar award from her own university.

As a Wen H. Ko intern, Adeeko worked closely with Professor John Lewandowski's research group. “I was interested in (the graduate students’) work and we all seemed to have similar academic backgrounds and goals,” she said. Much of her mechanical testing was conducted in Lewandowski’s Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanical Reliability Center, where she will be spending this coming summer as an intern.

In Summer 2022, Adeeko will focus on collecting fatigue data from additively manufactured metal alloys, as well as on developing machine learning procedures for automating the defect analysis process of fractured materials using ImageJ. “I am very excited about what I will discover from my research this summer, especially since metal additive manufacturing is still a growing field,” she said. “There is so much to learn as time goes on.” She also looks forward to exploring Cleveland.

"I could not be more proud of Tumi's work with us last summer and her recognition at YSU and with the CEIA,” said Gbur. “She is a remarkable young researcher and student leader. I am looking forward to watching her growth as she embarks on new projects with Professor Lewandowski. It's great to have her back on campus!”

"We were very excited that Tumi was interested in returning this summer to broaden her research experience,” added Lewandowski. “We are looking forward to working with her this summer on a variety of additive manufacturing projects.”

After Adeeko graduates from Youngstown State in May 2023, she hopes to join Lewandowski’s research group as a graduate student.