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Home > Training > Undergraduate & Graduate Training Opportunities & Resources > Biomedical Engineering Summer Internship Program (BESIP)
Interview with 2007 BESIP Intern, Steven Lee Jude: Where were you born and where did you grow up? Steven: I was born in Lafayette, Indiana. My dad is a professor at the university. Jude: At Purdue? Steven: Yes. So I've grown up and lived in the same town for 22 years now. Both of my parents got their Ph.D.s at Purdue. Jude: What field is your dad in? Steven: He's an electrical engineer in robotics. Jude: And your mom? Steven: My mom is a homemaker. She decided to stay home with my two brothers. Jude: So who was your strongest influence when you were growing up? Steven: Well, I actually wasn't planning on going into engineering, mainly because my dad was in engineering. But I never really knew what engineering was until I got into college. I was debating whether to go into biochemistry or the field of biomedical engineering (BME). I talked to a lot of faculty members and counselors and they finally convinced me to switch over to BME. I've loved it ever since, so I guess my dad was right all along. Jude: Well, what in your early days might have hinted that you would be good in that field? I imagine you are great at math and science. Steven: Yeah, I was very good at chemistry and biology, and math, as well. I took most of my math for my college degree in high school. I have only taken one math class in college so far. Jude: So you were in Advanced Placement? Steven: Yes, I was in Advanced Placement, but I also had the benefit of living where I do. I could take some of my upper-level calculus courses at Purdue and get college credit while I was still in high school. Jude: So you were way ahead of the game. Steven: Yes, it worked really well for me. A lot of students actually did that at our high school, but when you're in high school, I don't think you really appreciate the value of math. You just get good at crunching numbers and applying theorems and whatnot, but once you get into the engineering field, after your first couple of years, you really start to see the value of math, and you actually like using it as opposed to just crunching numbers and solving problems. Jude: So what is the official name of your major? Steven: Biomedical Engineering; I'm actually part of the second BME graduating class at Purdue. Jude: Do you have any special mentors at Purdue? Steven: Yes, I have quite a few, but probably the most important one is Eric Nauman. He teaches dynamics and structural mechanics. I've never actually taken a course with him, but I worked in his lab starting freshman year trying to characterize the electrical properties of bone. When I was in my freshman year, I really didn't know a lot of things, but he really helped me along the path of learning what science and engineering was all about. More than that, he served as a mentor outside the lab because he supported all my endeavors and a lot of the things I'm involved with, like the Biomedical Engineering Society and Engineering World Health where we're trying to bring international engineering practices into the field. He's been very, very supportive of that. Jude: So how did you find out about the BESIP program? Steven: My sophmore summer, I went to Indianapolis to the University's School of Medicine, and at that time, I was looking for internships to apply for. Originally, I was interested in the SIP (Summer Internship Program) at NIH, which I had heard about through postings at our school. Our school has an internship liaison and her entire job is to look for opportunities for students to do either internships over the summer, or research positions with established research companies, so it's a very beneficial thing for our students and they hook us up with things all the time. Jude: Is she a part of the BME Department? Steven: Yes, the liaison is part of BME. One special thing about our program is that, as opposed to all the other engineering disciplines, we can't do a co-op. So in other words, we can't go work for a company one semester and come back the next. We can only work during the summer, so that's why they created this position for an internship liaison in our program. Jude: Did you feel intimidated when you went to apply for BESIP? Or did you just jump at the chance? Steven: I read a lot about the program before I applied just to make sure it was the right fit for me. I had done a couple of other research rotations beforehand, but the one thing that everyone told me is that if [a student] can get a research position at NIH and really learn about governmental research and institutionalized research, it would be a kind of catalytic experience before going on to graduate and medical school. So after I discovered and read about it, I pretty much jumped right in. I didn't know what my chances were, and that did make me hesitate just a little bit, but as far as the opportunity went, I couldn't pass it up. I just had to try. Jude: Do you feel like it gave you a better sense of the field you want to get into and that it helped you plan your future better? Steven: Yes, exactly. And another thing is that NIH is such a big campus that you get to see the whole breadth of research that goes on there. And even though you're only working on one project, you get to see so many interns working on so many different projects. You can visit their labs and check things out. Jude: You said you've lived in the same Midwestern town for 22 years. Was it weird coming out to DC? Steven: Actually, my brother, who is a Carnegie Mellon graduate in computer science, was working with a start up company here in DC, and my dad is currently on detail with the National Science Foundation. But every summer, I've tried to get out of West Lafayette just for the sake of living someplace else. During my freshman summer, I went to Kalamazoo, Michigan. Then during my sophomore summer, I went to Indianapolis, Indiana, to the University's School of Medicine. But DC was a complete change of pace as far as lifestyle goes; it's a much more active and busier environment than Lafayette, and I think the energy there is definitely revitalizing and refreshing. We went to visit the national monuments and museums--there's just so much to do all the time. So it was different, but it was a lot of fun. I can't wait to live in a little bigger city. Jude: Did you enjoy the company of the other BESIP participants, and did you socialize a lot and get involved in their projects? Steven: We talked about our projects quite a bit. I worked every single day, and I talked to my roommates about my project, and they told me about theirs. We helped each other out with problems we were trying to solve. When it comes to technical issues, each person has a different background, especially in biomedical engineering. If you look across the nation, you'll see that there is really no set curriculum, so each school has their own specialty and strength, and that really played out well for our students. Jude: Did you get to choose your project? Steven: We got to rank them with a mentor, and then, I'm not exactly sure how Dr. Lutz did it, but he tried to give everyone their first or second choice. I know it didn't work out that way for everyone, but I was lucky. I got my first choice. Jude: Which was...? Steven: I wanted to work with tandem mass spectrometers and the primary investigator was Dr. Mark Knepper. Jude: Tell me about your experience there. Did you feel like you had the depth--you know, that you gained a lot of knowledge from that experience and that they let you jump right in and do your own thing? Steven: Yes. They really train you for the first couple of weeks to get you used to the lab, but I think the amount a student will ultimately contribute is dependent on how much research they've done in the past and how familiar they are with the background of research done in their lab. I jumped right in and I could help out right away because I had done a lot of the techniques that they used in the lab before. Unfortunately, my project broke down half way through the experience because the machines we were using--the mass spectrometers--broke down and had to get fixed. So I had to switch projects half way through the experience, but I still came out with a pretty useful product for them. I developed an algorithm that allows the user to look at thousands and thousands of data points. My algorithm would tell them the quality of each data point, and whether that data could actually be used in the analysis or not. So anyway, a student's background will determine how much they can contribute, but whether someone contributes a little or a lot, the main thing to remember is that it's just a ten-week experience. What you're really trying to do is learn a lot about the scientific process, like how the government funds different institutions for research. Additionally, you're trying to establish a nationwide network that you'll have as you go on to graduate school and medical school. I really did meet a lot of top-notch students from around the nation, and I discovered that very quickly. It's a very rewarding experience from that point of view. You learn a lot. Jude: So it sounds like you would recommend the program to others. Steven: Absolutely. Jude: Are there special characteristics you believe the BESIP participants should have? Steven: I find that a very difficult question to answer, but I know that you need to be a very energetic person who is very motivated. You also need to be a very patient person who is dedicated not only to the academic field, but also something else that you really care about. A lot of students were involved in another activity, and some of those were related to their majors, and others were not. Like for example, some of them played guitar and loved to sing, and someone else was in marching band. As for me, I love international medicine, and I traveled quite a bit in Ecuador. Jude: Oh, yes, and I was going to ask you about hobbies. Would you say that traveling is one of your hobbies? Steven: Well, it's starting to be. I'm going to have to work to make it a more frequently occuring experience, but I'm always looking for opportunities to expand my horizons. I'm going to Guatemala this summer. Jude: Do you speak Spanish? Steven: I'm getting there. I'm going to Guatemala for four weeks and my goal is to come back very close to fluent. I will be doing intensive Spanish training for about four hours a day, and then social work in the afternoon and evening. So I hope to speak pretty well by the time I get back. Jude: So I hear you're going on to an M.D./Ph.D. program. That will also happen at Purdue? Steven: Yes. Jude: So tell me how you made your decision and how your BESIP program may have helped push you over the deciding line to go after that. Steven: I was introduced to the M.D./Ph.D. program during my sophomore summer at the Indiana Unviersity School of Medicine. I had been thinking about it, and I was actually leaning away from doing the program, but it just so happens that the BESIP mentor I was working with--Dr. Mark Knepper--was an M.D./Ph.D. He and I talked about the program and the benefits, but also about all the time you have to spend in school to get the degree. He helped me understand what a huge impact research has in medicine, so the extra three or four years in school is completely worthwhile. A person practices medicine for hopefully 20 to 30 years, and you want to make a strong impact in the field. You can improve people's lives, and not just currently, but in the future. I think the research aspect of the M.D./Ph.D. program will really help me do that. Jude: So you'll be able to see a much bigger picture than most through both research and clinical experience. Do you think the program will help you understand the dynamics of the various scientific disciplines? In interdisciplinary science, the lines can fade to gray and disappear very quickly. Do you agree? Steven: Absolutely. That's so important now, too. New technologies can reveal a vast amount of data, and you can get into a problem where you have so much information that you don't know what to do with it. It's going to take people who have broad enough insight to look at the big picture and handle it from a kind of global perspective. Jude: That's great. Yes...a global perspective... So, is there anything we haven't talked about that you would like to cover? Anything you want to say to sum it all up? Steven: We talked about the students and the scientific and engineering stuff that we did, but we hung out a lot. Jude: You liked the social aspect of the program? Steven: Yes, Immensely. We hung out almost every weekend and went downtown together. We visited the monuments and museums, and we also visited the medical schools around, including Georgetown. I know a couple of the kids also went up to Johns Hopkins, and a few of us also went to watch the Natties--the Washington Nationals--a couple of times while we were there. We had a lot of fun. Also, the living conditions are very nice. They put you up in condominiums really close by, so you don't have to pay for housing, and the NIH campus is only about a mile away. I walked to campus every single day. But the biggest highlight of the experience was getting to know all of those wonderful individuals, and a lot of us still stay in contact. It's definitely good to keep that network up and just learn about different people and different programs. Jude: Are other people from your BESIP group going on to Ph.D. or M.D. programs? Steven: Most of us are either doing graduate or medical school, but I think one other person is thinking about doing the M.D./Ph.D., but I haven't heard from him recently. Jude: Yes, that M.D./Ph.D. is a big hill to climb. Steven: But I'm sure, like Dr. Knepper said, it will be really rewarding and give a bigger sense of what's going on. I certainly hope so. |
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