Cori Espelien is a PhD student at the University of Virginia, currently less than a month away from her defense. She conducts her research within the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Her work is based at the Center for Applied Biomechanics (CAB), where she specializes in injury biomechanics.
“What kinds or forms of academic research do you conduct? What topics or questions do you explore?”
Espelien describes her research as "essentially trying to understand how people move and at what point they can get injured." Her work has applications across multiple fields, including automotive, sports, military, and orthopedic contexts. For her PhD, she has concentrated specifically on the automotive side, working to understand crash test dummies and their neck mechanics. The research involves understanding how forces and impacts affect the human body during crashes.
“What was your journey into academic research like? How did you get involved, and what motivated or inspired you?”
Espelien's path to research was unconventional and happened somewhat by chance. She learned about biomedical engineering during a high school career day and pursued it as an undergraduate at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. After graduation, she worked in industry at a medical device company for several years without initially planning to pursue research. However, after gaining industry experience, she decided she wanted to go more in-depth into the fundamentals, which brought her back to graduate school. She discovered UVA's program through her best friend from undergrad, who was already there and loved it. She describes her journey as "happenstance" and notes that research paths often involve "taking one interest point at a time."
“How has learning about and conducting research impacted you? Have any of your beliefs, habits, or perspectives changed as a result?”
Research has really changed how Espelien thinks about learning and knowledge. She describes struggling with "knowing how much I know and knowing how much I don't know." Being constantly in learning mode means "I'm smarter than I was yesterday. But also, I know there's a whole lot of stuff that I don't know." This creates what she calls "this ping-ponging between imposter syndrome and humility and needing to be confident and assertive." She's learned that this internal tension "just goes in ebbs and flows, and you just have to try to balance it."
“Can you share a moment when your research felt especially meaningful or had an impact beyond the lab/classroom? Or more generally, in what ways do you think your or your field's research is important to the wider community?”
Espelien finds her research deeply meaningful because "it applies to pretty much everyone." She notes that injury biomechanics touches most people's lives through sports injuries, car crashes, TBIs, or broken bones, emphasizing the universal relevance of her work as transportation and sport become even more integrated in our lives. Her research has also changed her daily awareness: "Every time I get in the car, I'm thinking about something." For example, she's become conscious of how seatbelts should fit against "the hard contact points of your body" and considers factors like foot placement, especially noting that "females are at a higher risk for lower extremity injuries."
“Why do you think it's important for young people, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, to understand and engage with research?”
Espelien emphasizes two key reasons for diversity in research. First, she argues that voices from all backgrounds matter because a lot of research is a “creative pursuit.” She challenges the perception of STEM as dry compared to the arts, explaining that "a lot of STEM is creative because you're solving a lot of problems. So, to creatively solve problems, more diverse thought processes are better." Second, since her research is "people-focused" and "people of all shapes and sizes get injured," representation matters practically. She gives a great example: "When we are talking about females getting injured in car crashes, females should probably be in the room when we're talking about the research."
“What advice would you give to someone just starting out or curious about getting into research?”
Espelien offers encouraging and practical advice for aspiring researchers. She emphasizes that "it's never too late" and notes that if you are interested in it, you will find a place: “There’s always going to be room." Most importantly, she believes the key to success isn't intellectual ability but rather grit: "Research involves consistency, persistence, showing up, and getting back up because a lot of times experiments fail, things fall apart, your paper gets rejected, and you just kind of have to keep coming back the next day."
“Finally, why should we, as a society, continue to support academic research and stay enthusiastic about it? What would the world lose if we didn't?”
Speaking specifically about her field, Espelien makes a straightforward case for continued research support: "We are focused on safety. So supporting our academic research is supporting safety, full stop." Her research directly contributes to making transportation, sports, and daily activities safer for everyone, making the societal benefit extremely clear. The implication is that without research like hers, we would lose critical advances in protecting human lives and preventing injuries, affecting everyone’s daily lives for the worse. Research can have larger impacts than one might originally expect!
Comments