Nikolai Begg is a second year graduate student in the department of Mechanical Engineering. He plans to earn his Master of Science in June of 2011 and continue his work in the Precision Engineering Research Group as a PhD candidate. His research focuses on design of novel surgical devices with a specific focus on improving safety in puncture-access procedures. Nikolai has worked on medical device design as a student at MIT, as a researcher at Children's Hospital Boston, and as a mechanical engineering design intern at both a large medical device manufacturer and a medium sized product design firm. Nikolai is also currently a teaching assistant and team mentor for the 2.75 and 2.753 medical device design courses. He graduated in spring 2009 with a B.S. in M.E. from MIT. He enjoys skiing, hockey, frisbee, and playing the piano and drums.