Tartan Careers - Kristen Seballos
Sport: Women's Cross Country, Women's Track and Field
Class Year 20-21: Junior
Major: Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering
Bio: See Kristen's cross country bio; see Kristen's track bio
Internship Year, Title, and Company
Summer 2020, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Carnegie Mellon University's Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Lab
Application process: I applied to the Summer MechE Fellowship in April.
Why did this internship interest you: My research involved using and analyzing data from pressure sensor insoles that can record the amount of force and the pressure distribution on your feet when performing activities like walking, running, and jumping. The biomechanics of the human body is very interesting to me, and being able to combine my passion for running with my majors of biomedical and mechanical engineering made this particular project and the field of musculoskeletal biomechanics stand out to me.
How did you complete the internship - remotely or on-site: Remotely.
Description of internship: I was awarded a small fellowship grant, so I worked 20-30 hours a week with flexible hours throughout the day and week. My main tasks were to collect data during walking and running using the pressure sensor insoles, use MATLAB to filter and analyze the raw data, generate plots of the gait cycles, and compare the results to assess the reliability and repeatability of the insoles.
How it could have been different if not remote: If I had been on site, I would have been able to be involved in more experimental situations and learn about/use equipment in the lab that I did not have access to working remotely. I also would have been able to interact more with the other members of the lab and learn more from them and their research. However, having the flexibility to work around other commitments and summer training was a great benefit of remote work. Working remotely has also helped me to improve my coding skills and get more comfortable using different operating systems and software.
How did this internship shape your next move: Doing research at CMU this summer has helped me narrow down my interests in the fields I may want to be involved in for my future career. I will be continuing my research into the 2020 fall semester for class credit, and I am excited to continue honing my coding and analysis skills in a field directly related to my involvement in athletics and love for running.