About Bridget

I am a junior at Tufts studying civil engineering and astrophysics. In my first couple years at Tufts I was pretty involved in sustainability on campus, running SEA for a year and working with OOS a lot. I was also on the TEC team last year. I recently studied abroad in Limerick, Ireland and had a great semester, and I'm excited to be back at Tufts this spring. I conducted a research project on wind turbines this past summer in Tufts civil engineering, and enjoyed combining my interests in sustainability and engineering.

Reflection

Traveling to IMAC was a great experience for me, especially as an undergraduate. There were few undergraduates at the conference, so it was a good opportunity to meet and interact with professionals, professors, and graduate students. The conference was on structural dynamics, but it seemed that people enjoyed the application to wind energy and sustainability. I am not sure if going into research in the future will be my goal, but I definitely have more interest in that after this experience.

It was so interesting to hear from professors and professionals on their work and the impressive level of work that is conducted all around the country. As someone who is interested in climate change and the environment, it was interesting to see how little work was directly applied to issues related to this, given how important engineering solutions for climate adaptation/mitigation will become. I was proud to have worked on something that addresses one of the biggest issues facing us today, and I wished I had heard more about these issues from others at the conference.

Why TIE?

TIE's travel grant promoted interdisciplinary research and a focus on sustainability and the environment, which perfectly describes my research project. I was able to use civil engineering to address a real issue in wind energy. I also aim to travel and live as sustainably as I can, so this grant was also helpful in keeping that in mind and being really intentional in how I traveled.