Fischell Institute Intern Spotlight: Jaehee Yi

Jaehee Yi is a junior studying mechanical engineering at Northwestern University. She spent her summer interning at the University of Maryland with Fischell Institute affiliate EternusBio Inc., a startup developing personalized dental hygiene solutions, through the institute’s Summer Research Internship Program.

Yi worked to optimize the design of a proprietary, full-mouth oral hygiene device for dental prosthetic patients. The technology combines targeted fluid jet action with bioengineering, to improve oral hygiene for patients with dental prosthetics.

Yi was drawn to the internship because of her interest in the intersection of dentistry and bioengineering. As a Maryland native, she wanted to continue developing her skillset while on summer break from college.

"It feels so surreal that I was selected for this internship, especially considering the large pool of applications," Yi said. "I'm grateful to have worked with such an amazing venture and institution to further my hands-on experience."

Yi has always been interested in STEM. She originally wanted to become a pediatrician, but her path shifted after completing the four-year Project Lead the Way engineering curriculum in high school, where she gained experience in engineering design, prototyping and testing.

She chose to pursue engineering at Northwestern University to broaden her experiences outside of Maryland.

After graduation, Yi hopes to begin her career in industry. She is particularly interested in bioengineering, medicine and manufacturing.

"There are few things more rewarding than watching someone like Jaehee blossom," said Sam Choe, CEO of EternusBio Inc. "She has shown remarkable growth across our dental innovation R&D initiatives, and brought a genuine warmth and thoughtfulness to our team that will be missed as she returns to Northwestern."

Outside of the lab, Yi enjoys going on walks, shopping, reading and learning new languages. She is currently studying German.

Published October 5, 2026