Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Student (Summer 2019)

"This past summer, I took part in a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP). I worked with my Principal Investigator Dr. Megan S. Ryerson under the mentorship of Carrie Sauer, AICP, director of the Center for Safe Mobility at the University of Pennsylvania. I spent the summer collecting and analyzing data from cyclists on various streets around Philadelphia, focusing most on investigating cyclists’ behavior as they rode the bike lanes of South Street and Lombard Street.

While working on this safe mobility project, I became familiar with using the Tobii Pro Glasses 2 technology and performing visual analyses. I also used the Tobii Pro Lab technology to create heat maps of where the cyclists were looking the most throughout their journey.

I will be entering my sophomore year at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), where I major in Computer Science with a Spanish minor. This experience has opened my eyes to the idea of pursuing a graduate school degree after completing my education at UMBC.This upcoming semester, I will be applying to several Computer Science labs on my campus with the hopes of finding an environment in which I can continue to build upon my newfound research skills. I am grateful for the chance to experience the daily life of an injury prevention researcher as an REU student. Moreover, I am thankful that this was my first research experience. The CIRP team’s consistent support and help with networking made this experience all the more valuable."