Tell Us about Yourself
Senior in a five-year Bachelor of Science/Master of Science program in biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering, respectively, at Drexel University. Graduating in June.
What AEOP program(s) did you participate in?
Words of Advice?
Do it! The experiences, opportunities and mentoring you gain are completely worth it. Plus, as a student, you get to work on really cool stuff that has the power to create real-world change—and that’s a lot of fun.
Best Things about the Program?
Through College Qualified Leaders (CQL), I learned how to work through real research problems and design appropriate experiments to answer the questions. Subsequently, I was able to publish the work I did during my two summers in the CQL program, which dramatically improved my CV. Additionally, the networking opportunities were fantastic. I now have a professional network in my field that I can turn to for both technical and career advice, which has been and will continue to be very helpful.
How Participating in AEOP Inspired You to Advance in the STEM Field?
Before CQL, I intended to pursue a job in the biomedical device industry. During the course of my CQL apprenticeships, I worked extensively in ceramic science. As a result of this experience, I decided to pursue a Ph.D. in materials science focusing on solving limitations. Here’s why: While ceramics are strong, they’re also prone to catastrophic failure because they don’t withstand any amount of damage. This is a problem when ceramics are used for armor or medical implants. To help investigate and address this challenge, I will work on 3-D printing crack-tolerant ceramics for a number of applications that will hopefully extend the life cycle and efficacy of products that incorporate ceramics.
