Reed Gurchiek

PhD in Mechanical Engineering

As a master's student in exercise science at Appalachian State University, Reed Gurchiek's thesis focused on wearable sensors to characterise sprinting. In search of resources to learn more about sensor fusion techniques, he connected with Dr. Ryan McGinnis, who eventually worked as an Assistant Professor at UVM.

That prompted the master's graduate to pursue his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the same institution — a programme that prepared him for his role as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University.

"At UVM, I learned how to do quality science and engineer solutions to real problems," says Gurchiek. "At Stanford, I began working on problems that were relatively new to me, but I felt fully prepared to effectively innovate given my training. I had ample mentoring opportunities at UVM and thus was immediately ready to mentor and consult PhD students on their projects."