Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ

Hi, I'm Quin. I'm currently a junior-ish in Mechanical and Biomedical engineering (the doubleÌýmajor makes years complicated). I work at the Idea Forge here at Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ in the rapid prototypingÌýlab 3D printing and Laser cutting fabrication requests that we get from students, faculty, andÌýresearchers alike. As much as I love my job over at the idea forge, what I really want to end upÌýdoing is fabricating prosthetics and orthotics.Ìý

I've loved tinkering for as long as I can remember and as a little kid, remember getting into myÌýparents' toolbox to make random little circuits and devices, including a paper lamp completeÌýwith LED and battery when I broke my mom's and tried to replace it (in case you couldn't haveÌýguessed, she noticed). It wasn't until high school that I started seeing all of the ways thatÌýengineering can help people and fell in love with rehabilitation technology after designing andÌýbuilding a variety of devices to help students and community members with disabilities. I madeÌýeverything from a weighted vest batman costume and custom pencil grip to help a kindergartenÌýstudent learn how to write in a way that worked for him, to an adjustable necklace to hold aÌýcommunication device for a high school student at another school. I found my current passionÌýthrough designing a proof of concept EEG prosthetic arm for an upper arm amputee. During thatÌýwhole process, I loved the fabrication and even more so, knowing that the work I was doing wasÌýgoing to help someone.

As a Queer engineering major, my Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ journey hasn't always been smooth but hopefully, this willÌýgive some visibility to Queer students in STEM and encourage others that see this. Outside ofÌýwork and classes (which let's be honest isn't much time), I enjoy hiking and exploring BoulderÌýCreek's water bugs with my partner, taking care of my rescue hermit crabs, and raising wayÌýmore house plants than should be living in my basement apartment. I'm also an exec boardÌýmember of Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ's chapter of Theta Pi Sigma, oSTEM general member, and BOLD scholar so I'veÌýended up tied to Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ in a lot of ways but am definitely looking forward to pursuing a career ofÌýusing what I've learned here to help people after I graduate.

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