Undergraduate Research Spotlight
Sarah Birchell is a fourth-year industrial engineering major from Sunrise, Florida. Over the summer of 2021, she participated in 3-D printing research through the industrial and manufacturing summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (IME-REU), at the High-Performance Materials Institute (HPMI) in Tallahassee.
What program are you studying?
The REU is a summer research program that allows undergraduate students the chance to get the “research experience.” By this, I mean that undergrads have the opportunity to get hands-on experience in a lab, read up on literature based on the research topic, and present everything they have done and learned. The most exciting thing for me is to apply classroom learning to an experiment in the lab. I began my research experience in Feb. 2021 as a research assistant.
What is it like to work in research as an undergraduate?
Sometimes when I go to the lab, I forget that I am an undergrad and even a student in general. I get caught up in the work that I am doing and everything that I’m learning that I forget that I still have a couple of years left in college. I have enjoyed the whole experience. My mentors push me to be the best researcher and never stop asking questions. I can honestly say that it is not what I expected. I thought I wasn’t going to like research because I hadn’t heard of any projects that interested me. I figured it would be a good resume booster, so I applied. Once I got accepted and started working with my mentors on a topic that I didn’t even know about, I knew I made a good decision because it turned out to be something I am very interested in continuing in the future.
What kinds of things do you get to do?
I get to 3-D print with metal, polymers and resins on a variety of additive manufacturing printers. I also use other machines such as an SEM, TGA, ball mill, DIC, etc., to analyze samples. I have also become familiar with multiple new software programs specific to analyzing and characterizing data. I like working in a group because we can work together and communicate on stuff to help each other. For me, I think being paired with my mentor was the best thing about my experience. He has been supportive, patient and fun to work with this whole time. He has helped guide me during the program.
What are your long-term goals?
I am still unsure of that right now. I only recently decided to go to grad school. I don’t yet know where I’m going or what I will be studying. There are so many opportunities out there—I want to make sure I am well-prepared before making any certain decisions.
What inspires you?
Seeing how much innovation and change happens within one research building inspires me because I can see new things and new ideas come to life and the possibilities that follow. It makes me want to dig deeper and find out more.
What advice would you give to other students interested in research experience?
Go for it! You never know whether you’ll like something or not unless you try it. If you research and find that the topic you chose is not what you are interested in, you can always switch to a different one.
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