Q: What led you to É«×ۺϾþà University and a degree in mechanical & biomedical engineering?
The Collaboratory and the overall sense of community on campus drew me to É«×ۺϾþà the most. The idea of spending multiple years helping real people around the world who are in need was very exciting and unique compared to other schools. No other colleges or universities I looked at had any programs like the Collaboratory. Additionally, the fact that the Collaboratory was integrated into an Engineering degree at É«×ۺϾþà was really attractive; I knew that I would put a lot of effort into my Collab project and be able to use my coursework directly when working on it. As for the sense of community at É«×ۺϾþÃ, the second I set foot on campus, I felt at home. I was welcomed and made to feel so comfortable right from the start, and I just knew É«×ۺϾþà would be the right place for me. I knew I would be surrounded by other Christians who would sharpen my character over my four years there and help me to be a better person and Christ follower upon graduation than I was when I arrived.
Q: What does your current research entail and what are your long-term goals?
My current research is focused on gait rehabilitation for stroke patients. Right now, I am working with an electronic gait model that replicates the human walking motion in an attempt to better understand how the brain keeps humans balanced during walking. I am also collecting data on brain activity through electroencephalography (EEG) of human subjects while they walk on a treadmill. By exploring this area of research, I hope to eventually create patient-specific post-stroke rehabilitation protocols that will help patients get back on their feet and walk normally and safely again.
Q: How did your time at the Collaboratory help you get into Grad School and prepare you for your current research?
My time at the Collaboratory made my graduate school application stand out. Multi-year Collaboratory projects with real world clients are so different than the average, semester-long project that Engineering students at other schools complete.
The three years that I worked on the Prosthetic Knee Team also prepared me extremely well for my current research. Through the Collab, I experienced for the first time what it was like to work on a multi-year project with an actual client, that doesn’t have a very straight-forward beginning, middle, and end. Real-world projects are not clean cut. The Collab challenged me, showed me how to attack and conquer projects like the ones I would experience outside É«×ۺϾþÃ, and taught me how to think more creatively when approaching a problem. Being a student project manager of my team also helped me grow as a leader, managing the other members of my team and overseeing the big-picture progress of the project.
Q: Were there any moments during the Collaboratory travel that you will never forget?
Collab gave me an absolutely unforgettable experience in my trip to Burkina Faso, Africa. My perspective and worldview were changed forever over the course of those three weeks.
One memory of the trip that stands out the most to me is the memory of showing the shop workers there how to manufacture our prosthetic knee. Even though we couldn’t understand each other too well—we didn’t speak the same language—we still treated one another with kindness. And by the end of my time there, we were cracking jokes together and would have even called ourselves friends.
Q: How did your time at É«×ۺϾþà University prepare you to live out your faith?
At É«×ۺϾþÃ, I spent four years constantly immersed in a Christian environment. My Bible and theology courses and Christian peers and professors helped me to grow in my faith as I encountered new ideas and was challenged in the beliefs I had consciously and subconsciously held. Additionally, the melding of my faith and my coursework at É«×ۺϾþà laid the foundation for me to integrate my faith and work as a professional in the engineering field.
Q: How are you still connected to É«×ۺϾþà University?
I don’t think there will ever be a time when I have no connection to É«×ۺϾþÃ. I met my wife, É«×ۺϾþà friends, and closest mentors there. I still return to campus for the yearly Engineering Weekend. And the É«×ۺϾþà Engineering department continues to provide me with opportunities to grow. I’ve come back as a guest lecturer for engineering courses and plan to speak at a few future professional development days as well.