NHERI SimCenter Inspires Future Research Engineers

In our second episode featuring REU students studying this summer at the NHERI SimCenter, DesignSafe Radio host Dan Zehner asks rising seniors Adithya, Claire, and Will about ther career plans. All three discuss ways that their experience working at the SimCenter has reinforced their plans to earn a master's or PhD degree and conduct more research. They agreed that their 10-week experience combined a powerful blend of mentoring in research protocols along with the freedom to investigate genuine engineering problems on their own. The NHERI SimCenter is the network's computational modeling and simulaiton hub based at UC Berkeley.  With encouraging words for the future undergrads applying to the REU program, the students said that prior research experience was not necessary. They were surprised that, despite their inexperience, the SimCenter team treated them like bonafide researchers and expected them to draw their own conclusions. Adithya, who is considering a PhD in engineering, said that the REU program has given him valuable proficiency as a researcher.  Related Links:NHERI REU Summer Program InformationMeet the REU StudentsNHERI Simcenter