At Loughborough so far, my greatest achievement is being able to be independent and keep a healthy work-life balance. This includes being able to fulfil and enjoy the challenges of my degree but also excelling in my Gymnastics career.
Why I chose to study Biomedical Engineering MSc at Loughborough
Loughborough University has been my home for the past three years where I obtained my undergraduate degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering. In my undergraduate degree, I completed a project where I designed a Bio-Impedance analyser which upon research encouraged me to study for a master’s degree to help bridge the gap between the two areas.
The University environment has always felt calm, and the facilities are second to none which is why I decided to pursue my education further for a master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering. I've found the modules in my MSc are diverse and really get you comfortable with the concepts of Biomedical Engineering, especially the sensors and drug delivery modules.
To those that are new to the University, or those looking to continue their post-graduate studies at Loughborough, the student-staff interaction is excellent, and projects make you feel like you are working alongside your supervisors and support teams for a greater goal.
The teaching facilities at Loughborough
All the facilities including the world-class STEM labs are excellent, improving learning and excitement when studying more complex modules. The module based around Lab techniques for Biomedical engineering in semester 1 had weekly labs which allowed me to quickly get up to speed in this area.
I've found the student library and other study areas have helped me greatly whilst studying here, the facilities have brought me a quality of life that helps reduce the pressure and challenges during your degree.
How my MSc has helped my gymnastics career and vice versa
I started Gymnastics when I was younger, but I stopped in my early teenage years. When looking at universities, I was drawn by Loughborough’s Gymnastics facility which ultimately got me back into the sport.
Training for the past 4 years at Loughborough has honestly allowed me to become the strongest I’ve ever been both physically and mentally. I’ve competed at many competitions for the Uni which is always great fun as well as winning a few BUCS medals alongside it.
I train around 10-12 hours a week so being organised is key, as long as I put the time into studying, I can spend adequate time doing other things I love such as training. It works both ways though, Gymnastics allows me to work on myself, socialise and reduce stress caused by studying or deadlines and being able to study an MSc enables me to train, creating a healthy balance and allowing me to be motivated.
My research project
Currently, I am working on my MSc Project investigating the use of nanoparticles for improving the transdermal delivery of drugs.
I chose this topic because it was a completely new area which sounded interesting and was also an area of research where there is room for improvement. In addition, the drug delivery module we also studied helped support the project as a lot of knowledge would carry over.
It’s a very refreshing area to research, being quite different in context to my previous undergraduate project, however, I can see how some aspects have overlapped. For example, my previous project was about creating a device to measure the electrical impedance of biological cells, which required research into cell structure and piqued my interest in this area.
If my research and experiments go to plan, ideally the project would allow the delivery of drugs such as Fluconazole, an antifungal drug to be delivered via the skin. This would have great benefits as currently many drugs produce drastic side effects when ingested orally which transdermal delivery could prevent.
My greatest achievements and future plans
At Loughborough so far, my greatest achievement is being able to be independent and keep a healthy work-life balance. This includes being able to fulfil and enjoy the challenges of my degree but also excelling in my Gymnastics career.
Looking forwards, I would potentially pursue my education further in the form of a PhD, giving me the opportunity to study new areas or research my current projects further. Whether I would consider working in industry first or continue research immediately after my masters, I feel that Loughborough would provide me with a sufficient supportive environment to progress with where I want to go.