What do the students say about their interest in the field of “Bio-Inspired Materials”

"This experience has helped me understand the value of using bio-inspired materials rather than being used as an eye-catching word. I have become more interested in studying and emulating the materials/structures that make biological systems stable in the face of environmental factors, to real-world engineering applications."

"This internship has absolutely stimulated my interest in the field of "Bio-Inspired Materials." I've always known I wanted to do something medically relevant, and I’ve always been fascinated by the way nature is able to engineer tools to help organisms survive/thrive. This experience highlighted the intersection of these two things as my project took an observed phenomenon from an animal and attempted to mimic and repurpose this phenomenon in a synthetic environment for a medically relevant application."

"After this internship, I believe that bio-inspired materials are a useful new tool and will quickly become a staple in industry."

"I had a really good experience working in the lab, and studying this type of material has inspired me to pursue similar studies in my academic future. This lab has opened my eyes to the world of bio-inspired materials."

"Many of the project topics in the posters seemed relevant to my skills and experience, so I would definitely consider a career in this field."

"I have always been interested in bio-inspired materials and this program helped me retrieve valuable hands on experience. I learned so much about what it means to be bio-inspired and what it takes to create materials by such inspiration."

"I got to see all of the different ways that bio-inspired materials can be used in different areas of research. I really liked the creativity behind all of the projects and I hope to use bio-inspired materials in my future career."

"During the seminars I got many information and knowledge about the topics I have never been thinking about (at least not in the way they were presenting). Or I improved my knowledge. I must say that almost all seminars were very interesting to me and gave me something to think about."

"Yes! While I was originally interested, I have more concrete areas of Bio-Inspired Materials Research that I can articulate and look for in future programs. For instance, I learned about so many different ways bio-inspired polymer systems can be modified and tailored for various applications."