Hi everyone! My name is Chandler, and I am a recent graduate from the University of Rochester studying biomedical engineering with a concentration in biomechanics. Growing up, some of my fondest memories came from traveling to various countries around the world, where I had the opportunity to experience new things and meet different people from those back home in Los Angeles. When I traveled to the Dominican Republic for a service trip a few years back, however, I was taken aback not because of the climate or the people, but because of their circumstance. It is easy to listen to, and often ignore, news station and social media calls that stress the importance of making an impact in the lives of others, but I never truly understood the privilege I had until I saw firsthand the limited resources and sanitation issues that strike developing countries such as the DR. It was with this experience, supplemented with my engineering background, that inspired me to pursue medical device design with an emphasis on improving global health. There are billions of people in this world that would benefit from low-cost, effective solutions to ameliorate their current issues in health care, and Rice University’s Global Medical Innovation (GMI) program offers the integrated platform that will allow me to make that difference. Working with a world-class group of mentors that put the patient first, I believe that this graduate program will offer me the tools to be an understanding and successful leader in the medical device field. I look forward to working in a significantly warmer climate than Rochester, and I hope you will join me, along with seven other GMI companions, for the ride as we travel down to Costa Rica this summer!
