CS PhD student Hajara Yasmin Isa is a finalist in the 2025 Graduate Images of Research Exhibition with her entry Caged Resistance. The Graduate Image of Research contest invites students to engage creatively with their research by visualizing and articulating the importance and impact of the research experience for themselves and others. Her research lies in the intersection of biology and technology, exploring the potential of e-textiles, such as stretch-conductive fabric, for monitoring breathing patterns.
The annual exhibition, a collaboration between the Graduate College and the University Library's Media Commons, invites students to engage creatively with their research by visualizing and articulating the importance and impact of the research experience for themselves and others. Research is broadly defined to include the breadth of scholarly and creative work taking place across a multitude of disciplines at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Yasmin Isa is one of several graduate students at The Grainger College of Engineering who contributed to the exhibit. She describes her contribution as:
Caged Resistance by Hajara Yasmin Isa
"My research lies in the intersection of biology and technology, exploring the potential of e-textiles, such as stretch-conductive fabric, for monitoring breathing patterns. The stretch-conductive fabric in the background is designed to change its electrical resistance as it expands or contracts. These variations in resistance are precisely what the resistors in the foreground symbolize. Much like the ribcage expands and contracts with every breath, these electronic components detect the subtle shifts in motion, both physically and metaphorically, and echo the act of breathing itself. By translating these movements into data, my work aims to innovate real-time health monitoring, developing soft, unobtrusive wearables that can track respiratory patterns and offer early warnings of potential health issues."