My first few weeks as an electrical engineering intern have been incredibly educational! I don’t think I have ever learned this much in such a small amount of time. The things that I have learned have ranged from understanding how stepper motors work to interpreting the signals that control them. This summer my project is to modify the internal control circuitry of a Harvard Apparatus model 11 infusion only syringe pump. After the modifications have been made, the infusion-only syringe pump will be able to both infuse and withdraw fluids. Since my mentor’s research project involves microfluidics, the overall goal of my project with the syringe pump is to be able to push water into and pull water out of small microfluidic devices.

In addition to the research project, every week we are required to put together a brief presentation of our project’s goals, methods used to reach our goals, and other topics relating to our research project. Although I was intimidated when I found out about the presentations, now that we have been able to present our research, I find them quite helpful. Putting a research project presentation together helps one identify what it is about one’s project that one does and does not understand.

The seminars we attend have been informative and geared to help us learn more about the opportunities available after we graduate. One of the most recent seminars was to inform INSET interns about graduate school. Current UCSB graduate students hosted the seminar, and shared their journey that led them to graduate school. It was nice to hear the different reasons why these graduate students chose to attend graduate school.

The first few weeks of INSET have been great! I look forward to the weeks to come.