Research Experiences for Undergraduates Student (Summer 2024)

"During my time here at CIRP, I was able to apply my technical skills to clinical research in the field of injury biomechanics and automotive safety. I worked with my mentor, Dr. Valentina Graci, on two projects. The first project was developing a coupling system between the occupant compartment and the centrifuge arm on an AEB (Automated Emergency Braking) SLED. The second project focused on compiling and extracting occupant kinematic outcome measures of convertible booster seats and the effect of lower anchor attachments in far side oblique collisions. 

This internship allowed me to apply hands-on experience and grow my love for injury science. I strengthened my skills in Computer Aided Design (CAD) with Autodesk Fusion 360 and Solidworks, Finite Element Analysis, and large data manipulation with MATLAB. Working on an interdisciplinary research team expanded my communication and collaboration skills and data analysis abilities. I learned the importance of iterative design in research and engineering, which enabled me to greater appreciate the field of research and grow by investigating my own personal research questions. 

I am especially lucky to have been able to work with the SLED Lab team and the Injury Rehab and Biomechanics Engineering Research team. My summer here at CIRP with the CHOP community has been an amazing experience, and I am excited to see where my journey from here takes me!"