Eliza Haines crossed the stage at Littlejohn Coliseum this month to collect her Bachelor of Science in biomedical engineering, but her graduation from Clemson University is just one step on a longer journey.
She is headed to Stanford University in the fall as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar to pursue a master’s degree in electrical engineering. It is an opportunity to advance her neurotechnology research in the heart of Silicon Valley.
“It is a place with a lot of innovation and new, exciting technologies coming out,” Haines said. “I want to be immersed in that world. I’m very excited for that.”
Haines’ big-picture goal is to develop neurotechnologies that would help people who have locked-in syndrome communicate. Locked-in syndrome is a condition in which a person is fully conscious but unable to move or speak.
Haines already has a running start on her goal.
In a 2025 summer internship at Duke University, she conducted research into brain-computer interfaces, helping develop machine-learning techniques to better process brain signals.
Haines ultimately wants to work at a medical-device company in research and development after completing her master’s degree at Stanford.
“I want to be there at the forefront of this technology that’s really helping people,” she said. “I especially want to focus on communication access, working with speech neuroprostheses or spellers like the one that I worked on at Duke.”
Delphine Dean, chair of the Department of Bioengineering, congratulated Haines on her Knight-Hennessy Scholarship.
“This is one of the most prestigious graduate fellowships in the world, and it speaks to Eliza’s exceptional talent, leadership and potential to make a real impact,” Dean said. “It’s a tremendous honor for her and a reflection of the strength of our program at Clemson.”
Haines said two of her most important mentors at Clemson were Dean and Andrew Pyle, associate professor of communication.
She called Dean a “guiding light” through her engineering career and said that Pyle opened his home to students and offered them food from around the world as part of the Dixon Fellows Program in the Honors College.
Haines, who graduated with minors in electrical engineering and American Sign Language, began learning ASL with her family several years ago.
She has translated songs and readings at church into sign. During her time at Clemson, she served as secretary of the ASL Club and led a project to educate elementary school students about hearing health and deaf culture.
Prior to her time at Clemson, Haines graduated from Charlotte Engineering Early College. Haines, who has three younger sisters, is the daughter of Asher Haines and Colleen Karnas-Haines of Charlotte.
