Perspective on Undergraduate Research from One Who Knows
Written by Emma Kaeli, chemical engineering undergraduate student.
Chemical Engineering undergraduate student Emma Kaeli shares her research experiences:
In my first year here at Northeastern, I made one of the best decisions I have made yet—getting involved with academic research.After trying out bioengineering and even electrical engineering projects, I found myself volunteering in Dr. Katherine Ziemer’s Interface Engineering Laboratory. The work in the lab revolves around thin film deposition and characterization. I was instantly fascinated by our ability to probe the nano-scale, using atomic force microscopy to visualize nanometer-sized indentations in films. It was this experience that opened up so many doors for me.
The past four years that I have spent conducting research enabled me to improve my abilities as an experimenter, technical writer, and communicator. I learned that I naturally gravitate toward an academic lab setting, and it was this that has pushed me to pursue a PhD in materials research. For anyone considering getting involved with research, my advice is to just do it! No one is qualified when they first start out, and you might find something you really love that impacts what you do the rest of your life.