UMass Institute for Applied Life Sciences

Instagram, we'd like you to meet Laura! She's a Chemistry '22 major working in our Roll-to-Roll facility as a Core Summer Intern.

Her team is working on creating an eyelid sensor that can determine brain activity for people under anesthesia. While making this printed sensor, Laura has been testing different conductive inks to create a print that is conductive from one face to the other. 

While working with companies through the facility, she has seen the difference between how things run in academia versus how they run in a business. "All my experience so far has been in lab courses where things pretty much always go the way they’re supposed to and you have a set procedure. But here things don’t always work the way they’re supposed to. So just seeing how all of that works, in a real life setting, to actually make something new has been a very eye-opening experience for me."

“Working in the Roll to Roll facility enhanced my interest in materials science. I was thinking about pursuing more of a materials science track last semester and my experience this summer has solidified that. I am still a chemistry major and I hope to use chemistry in my future career, but with a materials science aspect to it.”

When she's not working with conductive inks, Laura likes to get creative by drawing and painting. The one thing she can't live without is art supplies and we can't wait to see what she creates in and outside of the lab! Swipe to see some of her work!

Meet Meghan, the first of our 2021 Core Summer Interns!

Meghan is a Kinesiology major working in the CH2P facility. She is working on the Ames project which uses artificial intelligence to investigate menopausal symptoms. Her typical day at the labs is occupied by sanitizing and dropping off monitors to the participants, providing instructions over Zoom calls, and analyzing the data for any patterns.

This is her first time working in research and she loves getting to connect directly with the participants. "I’ve learned a lot about human research practices because we have to make sure we’re communicating what we’re doing with them in a way that they’re going to understand and in a way they’re going to be comfortable with."

“Ultimately, after completing my degree at UMass I plan on attending PA school. However, during the gap year/s in between, I have always been unsure about what area of science and healthcare I would like to pursue. After my experience so far in this internship, I could definitely see myself getting involved in human health research after undergrad, and I think it could be really interesting to explore more of the field!”

After a long day at the labs, Meghan loves to go for a run around campus. Especially after a day in front of the computers working with data. If you happen to see her on a run, tell her we say hi!