Research Experience for Undergraduates | 2011 REU Fellows

Why CEINT? From our REU students & interns:

Caroline Sorensen

Rising Senior
Engineering and Environmental Science
Sweet Briar College, VA
CEINT Research Site: Wiesner Lab- Duke University

My name is Caroline Sorensen and I am a rising senior at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. I am a double major in engineering and environmental science. As per the requirements for my engineering major, I took a course in materials science during which I was assigned a research paper on a topic of personal interest. I chose the environmental implications of nanotechnology and focused on the life cycle of nanoparticles in the environment. I spent hours researching this topic and found myself so fascinated that, even after I completed the paper, I continued to read books and articles, and subscribed to magazines just so I could discover everything there was to know about the technology. I knew that conducting research at the CEINT would be a valuable experience because my college does not extend the opportunity to work with the subject that I am most interested in. Research excites me because there is always something new to discover. No matter how well educated a person is, there is always the opportunity to learn something new through research. I saw this program as an opportunity to combine two distinct passions of mine – engineering and environmental science. I know that the skills and knowledge that I gain from this experience will stay with me as I continue my studies and delve into my career.