Hello! My name is Carly, and I’m a sophomore at Hanszen majoring in Psychology. As someone who is interested in human factors, I hope to learn more about the intersection of psychology and engineering through the engineering design minor. At Rice, I’m involved in the DOERR Institute for New Leaders as a DOERR affiliate at Hanszen and am looking forward to participating in its CoachRice program this semester. I also enjoy volunteering at the Houston Humane Society with other Rice students (hanging out with cats and dogs is the best study break).

In ENGI 120 last Spring semester, my team and I made a bag valve mask (BVM) indicator. A bag valve mask is used by EMTs to manually ventilate patients, and our device is incorporated into the BVM to measure the volume of each pump to prevent overventilation of the lungs. Since I used to be a pre-med freshman year, I’m still interested in medical processes and devices, so it was really cool to be able to contribute to that field. I’m also proud of learning some C++ programming and Arduino through that project, which I had zero knowledge of before the class. At the end of the semester, they gave etched/engraved wooden coasters to the design mentors as thanks, and that’s one thing I would like to learn how to make this semester.

Final prototype of BVM Indicator

I hope to learn how to prototype effectively and safely using the different tools provided by the OEDK through ENGI 210. This way, I can carry these prototyping skills into ENGI 220 for the next team project.