18 Research Reflection by Alexis DeFord

Faculty Mentors: Eric Pardyjak and Rob Stoll (Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah)

I joined Dr. Amanda Smith’s lab as a freshman on campus, so I joined research very early on. The following year I moved to the Environmental Fluid Dynamics lab under Dr. Eric Pardyjak and Dr. Rob Stoll, and I worked with them for the rest of my undergraduate career. The experiences I’ve had with these labs have been wonderful; I’ve had fun and learned a lot, but moreover I’ve grown as a person. Being in these labs I’ve had mentors both on campus and beyond through the lab directors’ connections. All of my internships have come through the networks I made in these labs. Having an outlet to use the classroom skills in a more sandbox way has certainly enriched my learning as an undergraduate. Being in research has really made me consider graduate school and perhaps even an academic career. I welcome and am pursuing further research work primarily because of my undergraduate research experience.