About Chad

Our recent Alumnus, Chad Wangsanuwat, Ph.D., earned his B.S.E. in Chemical and Biological Engineering at Princeton University and in September 2021 he earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and Ph.D. Emphasis in Bioengineering at UCSB. His area of expertise is in developing experimental and computational next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques. He is now a Scientist at Moderna Therapeutics in Cambridge, MA.

Why UCSB? 

I went to college on the east coast and I wanted to live on the west coast, specifically in California, so I applied to a couple of schools, including UCSB, which has a very strong ChE department. I got into UCSB and I really liked it when I visited. I don’t like being in a competitive environment very much so I particularly like the department’s more collaborative culture. 

UCSB is also surrounded by very beautiful nature. The library has a “mountain side” and an “ocean side” and I don’t think many schools can say the same. 

Last but not least, the weather. It’s amazing. 

Why Chemical Engineering? 

I majored in Chemical and Biological Engineering back in college and I knew back then that I wanted to do research and solve problems that were rooted in biology. UCSB didn’t have a Bioengineering program, but rather a great ChE program, so I applied to Chemical Engineering programs looking to work with a professor who also works in a biology-related area. 

Why an Optional Ph.D. Bioengineering Emphasis? 

It made perfect sense for me to incorporate the BioE emphasis into my Ph.D. program, as I work in the field and a lot of BioE classes count as electives in the ChE department. The BioE core classes gave me a very broad (and intense) overview of the field and I learned so much about what’s out there in the field. It was also great to meet students from other departments and get out of the lab/ChE department for a bit.

What were your highlights in the Optional Ph.D. Bioengineering Emphasis?

Like many other BioE students, the answer is definitely organizing the Biotechnology Industry Showcase, which I believe has become a yearly event at this point. The experience of reaching out to people and connecting with folks professionally has definitely helped me with job search down the road.

Why and how did you choose your area of research? 

I knew that I wanted to work in a biology-related area so I looked for the professors who worked in that area in the ChE department. During the grad school visit weekend in spring 2016, I was actually interested in working with another professor, who then left UCSB that summer (talking about plot twist). And when I got to UCSB in fall 2016, there was this new professor [Dr. Dey] who would start in spring 2017, talking about this single-cell sequencing he wanted to do. He exuded enthusiasm and excitement about the subject, which got me excited too, so I ended up joining his very new lab (talking about another plot twist). Without him, I don’t think I will be in this field now.   

Where do you work now and how is it going in your new position?

 Is what you do now different from grad school?I’m currently a Scientist at Moderna in Cambridge, MA. It’s been six months so I finally feel like I get a hang of things. It’s been quite an adjustment, both on a professional level and on a personal level. Unlike graduate schools where students in the lab are about the same age, there are folks ranging from undergraduates co-ops to senior leaders who have been thinking about the problems we’re trying to solve for decades, so that’s very cool. It’s also quite an adjustment living in Boston (I moved to Boston in November, so I’ve been struggling with the cold weather) and also living as a young professional outside of a school context.  

What I do now is not that different from what I was doing in grad school. I did a lot of sequencing work in grad school and they were looking for someone with a sequencing assay development experience so I think they were as close as they could have gotten. But despite having a related background, I’ve been learning a lot about different aspects of RNA biology that I have never thought about before, so there was a lot of learning and catching up to do. It’s almost like starting grad school all over again, but the timeline was shortened from years to months or even weeks. I’ve been learning and growing at an accelerated pace, which is exactly what I’m looking for at this point in my career.      

What are your favorite things about the following? 

Hobbies: I love playing video games (to my carpel tunnel’s dismay). Back in Santa Barbara, I used to run and hike quite a bit. I hope to do that again soon.

UCSB: I really like my ChE department. It’s a great department. I think the ChE leaderships have done an excellent job supporting students, especially during covid.

Santa Barbara: Covid has been extremely difficult on a lot of people, me included. I remember one evening where my head was not in a really good place so I decided to just step out of my apartment and start running. I ran towards UCSB, passed the new BioE building, then the ChE building, and ended up at the end of Goleta Beach Pier. As I was standing there, the sun started to set. At that moment, I just murmured to myself “wow, that’s beautiful.” I felt this sense of serenity and I felt like everything was going to be ok. This is definitely my most vivid memory of Santa Barbara.

This made me miss Santa Barbara already.