Megan Wilkerson at BMES Annual Meeting 2022

Author: Megan Wilkerson | Major: Biomedical Engineering | Semester: Fall 2022

I am Megan Wilkerson. My major is in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Mathematics. My research investigates the utility of virtual reality (VR) as an educational tool in remote laboratory courses. 180° VR videos were implemented in a remote lab course in place of an in-person lab experience when lab spaces were unavailable. These videos provided a learning experience that differed from the other remote teaching methods that were currently being used.

This Conference Travel Grant allowed me to travel to San Antonio, Texas to attend the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Annual Meeting to present this research. This conference spanned several days of presentations and poster sessions covering many different scientific and social areas of research in the biomedical engineering field.

At this conference, I was able to learn about the work that others are doing in this area of research. I was able to view presentations of different approaches to including virtual reality or augmented reality in education in the biomedical engineering field. These approaches could possibly build off each other to find ideal ways for VR to be included.

This conference provided professional development opportunities, allowing me to network with others in the biomedical engineering field within my department at the University of Arkansas and outside of this institution. I was able to discuss graduate school opportunities at other institutions with students currently going through those programs and obtain information about these programs including information about the process of finding and joining a research lab at these universities.

Attending presentations at this meeting allowed me to hear about current research in the biomedical engineering field outside of my area of research including new techniques and materials being developed. Additionally, in response to questions from the audience, some presenters shared some of the more logistical details of these research experiments, providing insight into aspects of conducting research that one might not get from only reading the published research papers. Attending the poster sessions allowed me to have active discussions with others about their work as these sessions were not formal presentations.

I was able to give a podium presentation on my research, detailing the methods and the obtained results, gaining experience in public speaking and presenting to others not familiar with myself or my research area. This was a new experience as most of the presentations I have given in my classes have been in front of classmates familiar with the topic being discussed and who I have had many classes with previously. This also provided an opportunity to gain experience in preparing and practicing for a longer individual presentation as most classroom presentations are either shorter in length or presented with a group of other students.

Attending this conference was a great experience as it provided exposure to the biomedical engineering field outside of the university and classroom settings. After this experience, I plan to enter into industry for a few years to get a feel for what area I would like to work in. After that, I would like to attend graduate school.