Hello, guys! My name is Tina Smith
and I’m a current high school senior at BASIS Scottsdale. BASIS Scottsdale
differs from many high schools in terms of its academics and standards; but one
significant difference with my school and other schools is senior year. Instead
of going to classes the last trimester of the year, like normal high schools
have its students do, seniors at BASIS Scottsdale have the ability to
participate in a project to receive high honors. This project is called the
“Senior Research Project” or SRP. In this project, students select a project to
work on for 10 weeks and then create a presentation to show their findings.
Medical devices are one aspect of
the medical field that I find fascinating. To me, they are giant mystery books;
the various plot twists and turns leave the reader, myself, wanting more and
more. The further I read, the more I learn, and stronger the pull to know the
mechanisms behind the device. I want to know how it came about, how it is made,
and how it works. In today's world, science and technology are rapidly growing.
New techniques, new procedures, and new research fill the void of knowledge
left from previous mysteries. Science and technology now work together to
create new devices for doctors to use in medical practice. And for me, that is
the reason why I choose to work in the biomedical engineering field for my
Senior Research Project.
I chose a project that will
incorporate many components of engineering, electrochemistry, and optometry-- a
field of medicine. I will delve into the world of biomedical engineering
focusing on optometric devices. At Dr. LaBelle’s biomedical engineering lab at
ASU, I will be learning to screen print electrodes; in addition to,
self-researching about optometry. Why you may ask? From prior research, I
discovered millions of people each year contract eye infections such as eye
conjunctivitis, commonly known as pink-eye, or dry eyes. And with each given
year, more medical devices are created to detect these infections. And I want
to know how this process occurs. How can two different fields of
study—engineering and optometry- combine together to create a product. So, I
hope to answer the following questions in my research: What are the detectors
of an eye infection? How do I screen print electrodes? And how can screen
printing electrodes help in the process of creating an optometric device?
If you want to read more about my proposal, my next post will contain my full Senior Research Proposal. Hope you guys have an awesome day!
If you want to read more about my proposal, my next post will contain my full Senior Research Proposal. Hope you guys have an awesome day!
I am very excited to see where you go with this project and to hear about your experiences in the lab!
ReplyDeleteI am particularly interested in this project, because I want to study technology like this in college myself. It's very innovative!
ReplyDeleteI'm excited for your project (and for us to be interning at the same place)! In your research, will you be focusing on eye conjunctivitis and its treatments or other eye infections, too?
ReplyDeleteHaha thanks, it's going to be fun carpooling to ASU together! I'm going to be focusing specifically on eye conjunctivitis. If I answer my questions about it quickly, I'll branch out to other eye diseases. But for now, I'll focus on one.
ReplyDeleteTina: This SRP is well suited for your interests. I am sure you are going to gain a wealth of information as well as significant insights into the several areas that comprise your research. You should be able to use some of the lab skills you have developed over the last several years.
ReplyDelete