When a person envisions accessories for an engineer, chances are that they might imagine a TI-89, not a pair of hiking boots. But Professor of Biomedical Engineering David Kaplan breaks the mold: when he isn't working in his office, he is spending time outdoors with his family.
"I love anyplace where there are trees and open space," Kaplan said, mentioning that some of his favorite visits have been to Alaska and Mt. Rainier in Washington state. But because of work, Kaplan doesn't get outside as often as he would like.
"Whatever free time I have I spend with my seven-year-old daughter and my wife. We like to go on hikes and vacation in Maine, but I'm so busy with work," he said.
Kaplan's love for the outdoors has been developing for years. As an undergraduate at the University of Albany in upstate New York, Kaplan often went caving, hiking and mountain climbing. As a graduate student at Syracuse University, Kaplan again actively pursued lots of hiking, along with rugby.
"I've always been a very studious person, but I also love the outdoors," he said.
While Kaplan was not outdoors exploring nature and the world, he was doing it in the laboratory. During his years of study, Kaplan slowly moved towards a career in biomedical engineering, and trees played a part in that development.
"[My interest] has evolved. Earlier in my research, I always had interest in biological systems and how biology solves material science problems. In my graduate studies, I was trying to understand how trees make some cell wall components. That evolved into biomedical components and exploiting them to biomedical needs," Kaplan said.
Kaplan's current research involves the structure of polymers, which are "natural and synthetic compounds ... consisting of up to millions of repeated linked units, each a relatively light and simple molecule," according to the American Heritage Dictionary.
"We're interested in bioengineering polymers so we can understand how to control structure of the polymers, and then the functions of these polymers," he said. "And this allows us then to make new types of biomaterials for biomedical applications in healing tissues, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine."
Though Kaplan's research is a major part of his work, he says that the most rewarding aspect of his position is his role as a teacher.
"My interactions with students and watching them progress in their career paths is the most interesting aspect of my profession," he said. "Any time a student makes a new discovery from their research, or publishes their first paper - these are exciting days in the group."
When it comes to working and teaching at Tufts, Kaplan said he couldn't be happier.
"It's all good - great students, great colleagues, great opportunities. It's easy to find people who want to do collaborative research," he said. "We're in a great location for biomedical and biotechnical fields, and for student internships and opportunities when students are done graduating, like research and collaborative lab work."
Kaplan offered advice for current undergraduates, too: he suggested that many of his students to try research or lab work for at least one semester.
"Sometimes research can be very frustrating and take many tries before something will work well; thus, seeing a student work through this, stay with it, and succeed is very rewarding," he said.
Kaplan also had advice for how to make the most of Tufts. He stressed students should take classes they enjoy, not just the ones they have to take for their majors. He is also a strong believer in the importance of studying abroad.
"For me, spending three months in Europe on my own my first summer in college was a life changing experience," he said. "I went everywhere, hitchhiking and taking trains throughout Europe and northern Africa. That's why I encourage all my advisees to do study abroad, because I think you get a lot of new perspectives," Kaplan said.
Kaplan has traveled to other exotic locations over the years, such as Southeast Asia and Scandinavia. He cited Norway as a particularly beautiful and unique country. If Kaplan could travel to a different time, he said would choose the era of the dinosaurs.
"I think it would be so different and fascinating," he said.
Besides his fondness for outdoor activities and travel, Kaplan has a few other secrets in his non-professorial life.
"I prefer alternative rock music. I'm not going to say names of bands, because you don't want to know the real stuff I listen to. Let's just leave it at that," he said.
And who does Kaplan emulate? Thomas Jefferson is one of his personal heroes: "He had phenomenal foresight and creative problem solving abilities," Kaplan said.
