Best Mentor!

How has access to a 3M scientist been helpful in your journey so far?

It's been an incredible experience, and I couldn't have asked for a better mentor than Dr. Ross Behling. He's got this amazing network of connections in different fields, and with his help, I got to arrange calls with some truly inspiring professionals. He's even sending me 3M supplies to further enhance my prototype!

How do you feel about what you have accomplished to this point?

Looking back at what I've achieved so far, I'm pretty proud. Ross's guidance and the support of other 3M scientists has been instrumental in my growth and project development. I've learned so much and come a long way since the beginning of the summer.

What has been your favorite part of the challenge so far?

The most fun part of this challenge has been connecting with the other finalists who share my same passion for STEM! We’ve been forming this supportive community where we all motivate and help each other. We have Zoom calls where we get to know one another - from our favorite desserts to our favorite sports. What's really kept me organized throughout this journey is my trusty science notebook provided to us by our great coordinators at Discovery Education! The journal has been my secret weapon for staying on top of my research, jotting down questions and ideas, and making sure I’m working at the right pace.

What have been some of the most challenging problems you had to overcome?

1. One major obstacle I faced was needing to program in C for the microprocessor.  As I improved upon my prototype, I had quite a lot of bugs when I tried to update the code. I’ve been investing a significant amount of time studying tutorials and seeking guidance from online communities to overcome programming challenges; and 
2. Another challenge continues to be building up my AI dataset. Turns out, there weren’t many additional online ultrasound images of hamstring muscle tears than what I originally scraped. When I did find an incremental image, the muscle or graded tear wasn’t specified. At Ross’s suggestion, I reached out to professors, radiologists, orthopedists, and sports medicine doctors. A handful of them shared some images and my dataset has gotten larger.

I'm grateful for this opportunity and it’s made me realize more and more how much I enjoy science and engineering. See you next time!

--Annie