Receiving BEST travel funds for the professional development experience I am interested in will support my endeavor in shadowing a group of biomedical and software engineers, which will greatly benefit me in a number of ways.  This experience will not only afford me a significant learning opportunity for acquiring skills in physiological data analysis, which is integral in my current research, but will also provide an insiders' perspective on a day in the life of an engineer in the industry sector.  As a graduate student who has come directly from an undergraduate education/training environment, I have not yet had the opportunity to understand potential careers in industry first-hand.  This experience will also allow me to strengthen existing collaborations with the Aptima group and further my networking in this area.  Senior Biomedical Engineer Scott Pappada, who works closely with us on a current AHRQ grant, has agreed to sit down with me during this time to walk me through some of their typical research and specific procedures/data analysis methods.  Also during my visit I intend to shadow Senior Software Engineer Noah DePriest to glean a better understanding of a typical day in their industry.  This experience overall will contribute to a broader idea of potential avenues and applications of my current education and training, as well as a more immediate benefit of providing insight into data analysis of physiological signals, which is crucial in understanding the results of my current research project.

According to the reimbursement rate of $0.45 per miles while using a personal vehicle, expenses of driving to Beavercreek, Ohio (748 miles round trip) will total approximately $337.  Based on current hotel rates in the area, I'm estimating lodging expenses to total about $200 to stay for the nights of Tuesday, March 8th and Wednesday, March 9th ($100/night).  The predicted expenses will total about $537.