I am biker.
This week could not have ended in a better way. We all got to go over to We Cycle where we got the privilege to meet Dennis and Wolfgang. Let me start by saying how cool and amazing these two … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Blog Posts
Week 2 Recap
It’s almost the end of week 2, I can’t believe I haven’t been here for even 1 and a half weeks, but I already feel so welcomed and excited for the rest of the program. On Tuesday we all played … Continue reading →
Photos, bikes, movies
Yesterday was a blast! We started off the day taking group photos around campus which was so much fun, I can’t wait see how they turned out. Then we got back and had a really interesting lunch and learn meeting … Continue reading →
Biking
Today we got our bikes and since I didn’t know how to ride one, Madeleine taught me. I learned pretty quickly and was quite surprised by myself. Madeleine is the best biking instructor!!!! Just a few more practice sessions and … Continue reading →
The Ordinary Pizza
For today’s lunch, we went to a restaurant “Pizza Pit” to eat, pizza. Before, we had a lot of recommendations saying that this pizza was cheap and really good tasting. So, we had to go try it out, it took … Continue reading →
Midweek 2
This week is focused on C++, which was a bit daunting because most of the other interns are CS majors, and I am not. I have a focus in mechanical engineering, and my small experience with code taught me to, … Continue reading →
Pizza, racketball, and meetings
Hi guys! Last night we had game night and got to play wearwolf and taboo which was a ton of fun and everyone got super into it! Today we did another C++ lesson and I got to help a couple … Continue reading →
What is Taco Pizza?
Apparently, there is a thing here called taco pizza and also breakfast pizza here in Iowa. We we’re planning on walking to Pizza Pit on Tuesday so the interns would have a chance to try this incredible creation that is … Continue reading →
Week 2 update
Week 2 has been a lot of fun learning even more about C++ and cyber sickness. Along with this we got the opportunity to listen to a phd student’s research on gestures in vr and color perception in local villages … Continue reading →
Ethics and Interaction/Perception Study
From my reading of research ethics and HCI and yesterday’s class, the IRB is responsible mostly for reviewing research using human as subjects. The process takes so much time; I saw the IRB application, which is about 27 pages, I … Continue reading →
How do we prioritize what research to work on?
I think people generally hold the notion helping people is good, and that time is a scarce resource. So when choosing research to work on, how do we choose the most important project. Given the potential for research to impact … Continue reading →
First Taco Tuesday
Since we have blog time every single day of this week, I’m gonna write only about one topic for this post. Today we had a presentation shown to us about colors and gestures, all involving VR. This topic was interesting … Continue reading →
Cool presentations
Today we started off with a talk about ethics in human testing for research. It’s so much more in depth then I ever expected. But now, i recognize that it is a really important step in the research process, seeing … Continue reading →
First Week RECAP
It has been an interesting first week! On Saturday, we went to an Escape Room and ate a Zombie Burger which was quite interesting. My burger had fried bananas and peanut butter which was actually really good! For the most … Continue reading →
First Week Recap
My first week at SPIRE is officially done and I’m so ecstatic! After my first blog, a lot more stuff happened. On Friday we did team building and it gave me a much better understanding of our research goals to … Continue reading →
Red Bull Soapbox Fun!
On Saturday after our escape room, we went to see the Red Bull soapbox race that was going on in De Moines and it was super cool! Although it was hard to see the actual races, it was a great … Continue reading →
Week 2 start
Going into week 2 I was swamped with readings, reading around 50 pages of research about our project. Although it was boring and hard to read, it was overall really interesting. Besides that, we started week 2 off with C++ … Continue reading →
Blog 2 – Learning C++
It’s the start of our first full week for the program and we are learning C++. I haven’t used C++ before, but I can definitely see the parallels to other object-oriented programming languages like C#. I’m still learning and hope … Continue reading →
Week 1
Work-wise, the first week was more focused on team building, tours of the lab, and learning foundational research skills. We began reading some background papers in related studies. I’m excited for the weeks to come. The NAVI team is looking at some really cool stuff. … Continue reading →
Jumping into C++
Alright, we’ve made it to the second week! I’m working on putting together a slideshow of one of the research papers I found about cyber sickness and reading the other papers we were given to review. Everything is going by … Continue reading →
First Monday Blog
What’s up, today is the first Monday since the start of the program and a some exciting stuff has happened. With the research stuff first, we have learned C++ for the first time today, we had some team building activities … Continue reading →
First Week Post!
We made it to the first week! Meeting the interns and the mentors I’ll be working with has been so exciting. Everyone is from a different US state which is exciting, as I’m hoping to learn from their various geographical … Continue reading →
Week 1
The week was a lot of fun getting to know all the other interns here along with getting to all of the great faculty and mentors. We got to look at the early stages of the research process which included … Continue reading →
Initial Thoughts
After a few days here, I’m kind of upset that everything is so nice compared to KU and that it seems like there is so much opportunity for good quality research. Maybe my view is just biased because I’ve very … Continue reading →
First Post at SPIRE!
It’s been 2.5 days of the SPIRE-EIT REU program, and so much has already been done! First coming here I was nervous meeting everyone, but everyone is so nice! On the first day we all went to Dr. Gilbert’s house … Continue reading →
Blog 1
It’s been two days since I arrived in Ames and started my research internships at Iowa State University. It honestly already feels like I have found a home here. I super excited to start learning and doing some research but … Continue reading →
First Post 5/29/2025
Today is my 3rd day as an intern! We’ve learned a bunch about research and done a lot of introductory stuff. We just got back from Thai Kitchen (great food), had a great lunch with our faculty mentors. I found … Continue reading →
5/29/2025
For today’s blog, I’ll talk about my arrival on the 27th to what I did now. Waking up at 2:30 am on the 27th was probably the worst part, but I was able to sleep on the plane over here, … Continue reading →
5/29/25
Today we got an introduction to the three different research projects. Each mentor and staff members presented a slide of what their research project was about. We then got into our individual groups to discuss more about our projects and … Continue reading →
5/29
Tuesday was a lot of fun, getting to know some faculty and our mentors over dinner at Stephen’s house. Also our oven fan is basically a jet engine smh. Wednesday was a long day. The highlights included winning the scavenger … Continue reading →
Excitement for the 2025 SPIRE-EIT REU Program!
I am thrilled to share that the 2025 SPIRE-EIT REU program is coming together beautifully! This year promises to be an incredible journey of learning, discovery, and collaboration. Here are some of the exciting updates: Welcoming Our Program MentorsWe are … Continue reading →
Applications Now Open for SPIRE-EIT REU Program!
We are excited to announce that applications for the SPIRE-EIT REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) program are now being accepted! This is a fantastic opportunity for undergraduate students to engage in cutting-edge research and gain valuable experience in the field … Continue reading →
2025 SPIRE-EIT REU Program Dates!
We are thrilled to announce the dates for our 2025 Summer SPIRE-EIT (Summer Program for Interdisciplinary Research and Education – Emerging Interface Technologies) REU program! Mark your calendars for May 27, 2025 – August 2, 2025. Applications will be opening … Continue reading →
Coming Soon
Exciting News: Our New SPIRE-EIT REU Website is About to Go Live! We are thrilled to announce that our website for the SPIRE-EIT 2025 program is about to go live! 
Reflecting on an Amazing SPIRE-EIT 2024 This past year has … Continue reading →