After Switching Majors, a Biomedical Engineering Senior Turns Her Focus to Veterans Health
Senior Olivia Colavito found inspiration in her grandfather, who served as a combat medic in Ethiopia
As an eighth-grader, Olivia Colavito received treatment from a physical therapist after straining a hamstring during a dance class.
That initial exposure to the science of rehabilitation took root in her mind.
“PT helped me so much,” said Colavito, adding that she was able to return to dancing and running in about six weeks. “Besides myself, I remember the therapists helping so many patients who were very grateful to receive treatment.”
Now a senior at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, the Honors College student hopes to help others by designing prosthetics and other medical devices. Graduating in May, Colavito is close to completing her bachelor of science degree in biomedical engineering at the School of Engineering.
Aiding military veterans with lost limbs and other medical issues is of particular interest to the 21-year-old. Her grandfather on her mother’s side, Michael Quartana, who served as a U.S. Army combat medic stationed in Ethiopia in the late 1950s, is a source of inspiration.
“Every Veterans Day, he will wear an Army hat,” Colavito said. “He's very passionate about being a veteran.”
The Aberdeen, N.J., resident added, “Obviously, veterans have sacrificed so much and I think it's a very rewarding career to be able to give back to a population like that and a population that's underserved.”
Since August 2023, Colavito has held a research internship with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and its Airborne Hazards and Burn Pits Center of Excellence, based at the New Jersey War Related Illness and Injury Study Center in East Orange, N.J., where she took part in a project using artificial intelligence to analyze computerized tomography (CT) data from scans of the lungs of veterans.
Colavito processed CT scans through an artificial intelligence algorithm that would classify individual voxels (pixels) of the scans to try to diagnose areas of the lungs into specific disease categories.
“However, when I got this output, I noticed some of them said there was an error,” she said.
Colavito learned that different CT scanners have different set parameters that affect image resolution.
“The algorithm was therefore unable to classify the voxels in the scans the same way, making the data incomparable,” said Colavito, who presented the findings during the Biomedical Engineering Society’s annual meeting in Baltimore in October.
Obviously, veterans have sacrificed so much and I think it's a very rewarding career to be able to give back to a population like that and a population that's underserved.
Olivia Colavito
Rutgers University-New Brunswick senior
Colavito began her college education as a business major. After a summer of volunteering in the therapy gym at Children's Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., and working part-time as a physical therapy aide at Twin Boro Physical Therapy in Holmdel, N.J., Colavito found her calling in biomedical engineering.
Her original plan was to pursue a business degree and take physical therapy prerequisites.
“However, I soon felt pigeon-holed into one path,” Colavito said. “I wasn’t 100% sure about PT anymore and didn't see myself in a ‘strictly business’ field. I knew I wanted to help people and was still interested in possibly doing PT, but I wanted to explore more options in the rehabilitation and science field.”
She decided to switch her major “in search of a career where I can help people through innovative design,” she noted on her LinkedIn web page.
“I just felt like there were so many different options in biomedical engineering that you could go into,” said Colavito, who took part in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics program at Matawan Regional High School. “There's so many things I was interested in within the major, and I didn't feel stuck in one singular path and I could explore more of the things I was actually interested in.”
There was a catch, however: Her Honors College scholarship was tied to her initial field of study, business, and she risked losing funding.
Colavito turned to J.D. Bowers, dean of the Honors College at Rutgers-New Brunswick for assistance.
“He helped me tremendously to keep a good two-thirds of it, so it made it feasible and valid to switch my major,” said Colavito, adding that Andrea Rydel, assistant dean of the Honors College, also helped her “a lot throughout my whole major change process.”
Bowers said Colavito is “very accomplished and insightful” as well as “genuine, funny and very personable.”
“She is someone who tackles challenges very methodically and thinks through the ramifications of decisions, often providing an entire range of projected outcomes considering the passage of time and unintended consequences,” said Bowers, adding that Colavito is a member of the Honors College Dean’s Advisory Council.
He said Colavito’s decision to transfer schools “was based on her growing exposure to engineering and a deepening interest in tackling social and industrial challenges from an interdisciplinary approach.”
Bowers added, “She was an exceptional student who was going through an intellectual growth, and the fact that it was happening at a time when some students were allowed to freely transfer their scholarships and others were not, was most unfortunate. In no way did I feel that she should be punished for a development that, in all other ways, we encouraged and valued.
“After working to make sure that she could manage the transfer, it only seemed right that the Honors College step in to fill the gap that was created. And she has proven that decision to be a good one. And true to form, Olivia also noted that the outreach and assistance we offered her is something that she fully intends to pay forward.”
Aside from her studies, Colavito is involved in a number of organizations and clubs at Rutgers-New Brunswick. In addition to being a member of the Delta Gamma sorority, the Rutgers Performing Dance Company and Rutgers Unified Sports, Colavito has participated in the university’s dance marathon.
But of all these groups, it is being part of the Rutgers University Ski and Snowboard Team that Colavito considers most dear.
“That's one of the best things I've ever joined in my life,” said Colavito, who served as treasurer of the team. “It's so much fun and I'm so sad it's over.”
As for Colavito’s long-term plans?
“I see myself running my own lab,” she said. “I think running a government research lab is super cool, or a research lab in industry or being high up in some type of cool, innovative medical device company.
“I just want to do something not stagnant or boring. I feel like I want to be able to do a bunch of things in my career. I don't want to be like, ‘OK, I'm going to be here forever.’ I want to just keep doing more.”
