Stories

A first-generation Cameroonian-American and honors student, Shandy Ndjigue, has made an indelible mark on Northeastern University. She is set to graduate in May with a B.S. in bioengineering and a minor in psychology.

Time and again, Shandy has shown leadership—first as co-founder of NEUBlackConnect, where she generated a digital global initiative using Instagram to acquaint nearly 350 incoming freshmen with aspects of campus life during a global pandemic, Additionally, she was a student global ambassador of the Northeastern Global Leadership Summit, travelling to Accra, Ghana, to promote university advancement initiatives. She participated in a conference that included panels and presentations from more than 30 high-level executives—among them the Deputy Governor of Ghana, H.E. South African Commissioner, CEOs, and more. “I was granted the opportunity to listen and learn from various incredible leaders,” she says. “One of the biggest takeaways … was to never stop striving for success because resilience is an integral part of being a leader, and hardships breed extraordinary people.

In addition to those global honors, Shandy was vice president of Northeastern’s’s Black Student Association, a Husky Ambassador and visitor center assistant, a peer mentor in the College of Engineering, an external ambassador of Northeastern’s African Student Organization, and vice chair of Senior Year Experience Board—the role she considers to be a major achievement. “I’ve happily taken on the task of easing the transition from student to alumni through memorable events which exemplify Husky pride,” she says. “She helped plan the Senior Kick-Off Carnival, Friendsgiving at Dorchester Brewing Company, Beanpot Extravaganza and Senior Week.

Shandy participated in two co-ops. The first was at uniQure in Lexington, where she composed and executed more than 10 engineering test protocols, pioneered five capital projects from conception to completion, and improved qualification activities for gene therapy manufacturing. At Helios Biomedical in Natick, she spearheaded an initiative to convert the current quality management system to an electronic QMS within four months, and invented a macro code to analyze percentage of fibrosis in images of the myocardium.

Currently, Shandy is working on a capstone project—enabling rapid in vivo microscopy by mass immobilization on cultivation plates—and designing a thermoelectric chiller to immobilize data used in neurodegenerative research for clear imaging.

After graduation, Shandy plans to apply business principles to bioengineering, working to improve maternal and fetal healthcare in developing countries. Director, Student Engagement and Philanthropy C. Hawkins says, “Shandy is a gem that magnifies the luster of the Northeastern crown. The university is a better place because of her tenacious leadership.”