Engineering Students Get Opportunity to Work on Research Projects in Sweden Over the Summer

While the summer break is a time to unwind before the upcoming semester, three Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering students are using that extra time to further their studies by researching health-related topics in Sweden.

“I often find myself, whenever I wake up in the morning, I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I’m in Sweden right now.’ It’s absolutely insane and sometimes I can’t believe I made it here,” said Taylor Brown, a senior Industrial and Systems Engineering major.

Brown is one of three USD students and six undergraduate students from Southern California who are working with Dr. Mark Chapman, an assistant professor of integrated engineering at the University of San Diego Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, to get hands-on bioinformatics research experience in labs in Sweden. The program is funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, with a goal to provide undergraduate students with research opportunities and promote diversity in the field.

“Without this opportunity, I wouldn’t be able to know whether or not bioinformatics or research is something for me. Along with learning more about bioinformatics and biomedical engineering, you also learn about graduate school and getting your PhD. You get a lot of opportunities to talk to people who are currently in that position and get their feel for that type of position. It definitely helps me make my decision about what I would like to do with my career,” said Brown.

Like Brown, Lauren Washington, a 5th year Industrial and Systems Engineering student, says this opportunity is also helping her explore plans after graduation while encouraging her to step out of her comfort zone.

“Working in a collaborative lab is priceless. It is reassuring that I do want to go to grad school and I do want to get my PhD. A requirement of a PhD is research. I’m fortunate for people like Dr. Chapman to be at USD and provide students of color and students in engineering the opportunity, regardless of where they are in their career. The opportunity to pursue grad school, pursue something outside of USD, or outside of the United States, and step out of their comfort zone, grow and see is this something for me?” said Lauren Washington, an Industrial and Systems Engineering student.

Washington is researching the hibernation of mammals and looking at the genes that allow some mammals to hibernate and others to not. In another lab, Brown is looking at data from patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm and is researching if there is a correlation between genes and the progress of this disease.

While this program is helping the students find a clearer career path, Washington and Brown are also hoping their participation in this research inspires their fellow members in the USD chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers. Washington is the president and Brown is the vice president of the USD chapter.

“Another big aspect of this program for us, specifically, is that we were able to show our members that they too can do research and expand their world view of what engineering involves. We’re able to lead by example and show them it’s good to get out of your comfort zone and try new things, go on that international trip, encourage research, encourage going abroad and all the cool things you can learn and see and do,” said Brown.

The students return home on August 22nd. To learn more about their experiences, you can read their blog here.