Lauren Gomez

Hi there! My name is Lauren Gomez, I am a senior undergraduate student majoring in Biomedical Engineering and double minoring in Sustainable Engineering and Mathematics at the University of Texas at Arlington. As I reflect on the past four years, I have spent here at UTA, I can't help but be grateful I chose such an inclusive and credible program to study at. The College of Engineering has opened the door to every opportunity I have ever received. I have been able to gain so much experience through internships and courses that it will be extremely helpful in transitioning to join the workforce.

WHAT ORGANIZATION DID YOU INTERN WITH? WHAT BENEFITS DID YOU GET FROM YOUR INTERNSHIP?

This January, I had the opportunity to intern at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. During my experience, I was able to tour the user facilities that are free for any researcher to use (if they submit an approved proposal). These facilities include the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, Center for Functional Nanomaterials, and the National Synchrotron Light Source II. I also listened to many scientists who are top researchers in their individual fields talk about their work. Some of my favorite topics that are being studied by the Department of Energy are renewable energy sources, the beginnings of our universe, and fighting pollution. In addition to learning about the science at Brookhaven National Laboratory, I got to meet other top undergraduate students from all over the country that come from so many different backgrounds. Working with other students, we were assigned a project on applying Infrared Spectroscopy to analyze unknown samples and determine their contents by interpreting the resulting data.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR YOU?

The big take away I had from this experience was building my network. By asking questions and speaking about my own research experience from UTA, I was able to connect with one of the research scientists that works at the Synchrotron Light Source. This scientist reached out to me about 2 months after my internship and invited me to return to Brookhaven National Laboratory this summer to work on a project where I will be Characterizing microbial remediation of plastic waste using the synchrotron FTIR imaging! In short, I will be responsible for growing microalgae and using the FTIR Beamline at the Light source to determine how algae can degrade plastics. This research will provide a deeper understanding of how algae recycle plastics by biodegrading petroleum-based plastic and yielding a renewable bioplastic biomass. I am very passionate about climate change and was thrilled to hear about working on this project. I feel as if this is a steppingstone to making the world a better, cleaner, more sustainable place!

HOW DID THE COLLEGE HELP PREPARE FOR YOUR INTERN ACHIEVEMENT?

None of this would be possible without the support of the faculty at UTA and all the hands-on knowledge I have obtained though my engineering coursework. I would especially like to thank, Dr. Marco Brotto, director of the UTA Bone Muscle Research Center, who took me into his lab last summer through the UTA SURPINT Program that was introduced to me through the Bioengineering Department. Dr. Brotto has been an amazing mentor who has provided me with the opportunity to grow as a researcher and a professional in his laboratory. I would lastly like to thank the College of Engineering for allowing me to highlight my experience and hopefully provide some helpful insight to future students thinking about partaking in an internship.