For my LINK internship I will be traveling to Vail, Colorado to work at the Steadman Philippon Research Institute (SPRI). SPRI is known worldwide for their research into the causes, prevention, and treatment of orthopaedic disorders. Their goal is to solve problems that limit an individual’s ability to maintain an active lifestyle. The research is based on clinical relevance and focus on the the body’s innate healing ability. By harnessing and manipulating this ability, SPRI has developed many advances in surgical techniques. This pioneering research has helped SPRI become a world renowned research center. Being located in Vail, SPRI focuses mainly on skiing injuries. The Steadman Clinic is connected to SPRI and actually implements the devices that SPRI engineers. People travel from all over to receive treatment and surgeries from this partnership.
SPRI’s primary areas of research include biomedical engineering, imagining research, translational and regenerative medicine research, outcomes-based orthopaedic research and other research education projects. As for my internship, I will be focusing on biomedical engineering. I will be working with Kelly Adair, Director of the Surgical Skills Laboratory at SPRI. Mr. Adair who graduated with a Bachelors in Integrative Physiology in 2009 from the University of Colorado at Boulder, has been working with orthopaedic medical devices and the promotion of a healthy, active lifestyle his entire career. I am looking forward to the opportunity to work with Mr. Adair. Because of his position, I look forward to working, hands on, on some of SPRI’s current projects.
As for my project, I will not be able to decide what I would like to focus on until I arrive at SPRI. Many projects are currently in the works. I will explore a few of these and then choose one to focus on. I may continue a project that is already started or I may choose to diverge on my own path and create something that is related to a current project. Since I do not know the specifics of the projects I should be able to get a better idea once I arrive. In the past few months I have researched the accomplishments of SPRI along with advances in the biomedical engineering field in general. I think this research will be a good basis for some of the things I will be working on during my internship. There is tons of information out there, but I think background knowledge will be beneficial.
The biggest challenge I encountered during this process was trying to find housing in Vail. After trying for 3 months and asking everyone one my family knew, I was pretty discouraged. I wasn’t sure who else to look to for help. Fortunately, one of the connections lead to a housing opportunity. Once I had accommodations settled I felt accomplished and even more excited about the opportunity.
I have always been interested in math and sciences and have recently zeroed in on engineering. When I started researching biomedical engineering I was amazed by it. The possibilities in this field seem endless. My goal is to be able to engineer things that can help people everywhere. I think this internship will be a wonderful opening into the world of bioengineering and will help me to know if this field is something that I am truly interested and could focus my career on. I am very grateful for this opportunity and look forward to where it leads me in the future.