Ava Taylor Email and Phone Number

Through assisting students with lecture material, homework questions, and test preparation, I coach my peers in problem solving, concept learning, and study skills for a variety of topics. In doing this, I teach and master the material from courses within my major and minor during regularly held office hours for 5 hours per week.

As an assistant to the Director of the Honors Program, I collect data on both currently enrolled and alumni Honors Students in order to track statistics (i.e. retention rate, graduation rate, etc.) as well as promote the benefits and outcomes of the Honors Program for 5 hours per week. Additionally, I act as a representative head of current Honors Scholars by attending monthly Honors faculty meetings.

As an ambassador and leader across campus, I strive to represent my university with enthusiasm, pride, and responsibility by leading tours, helping run events, and working with potential incoming students all with a positive attitude. Working in this position for 10 hours per week strengthens my leadership values and sales skills, and provides opportunities to connect and network with all families that visit our campus. In my role as Captain, I lead a cohort of other University Ambassadors.

As an Undergraduate Researcher in the Human Biomechanics and Physiology Lab, I operate and learn marker-less motion capture systems, which utilize artificial intelligence and deep learning algorithms to model and measure dynamic human movements for 6 hours per week. Through our investigation of the reliability of kinematic variables during dynamic movement, consistency was found, indicating future use of artificial intelligence-based marker-less motion capture systems in non-laboratory environments. These findings were presented at the North American Congress on Biomechanics (NACOB) international research conference in Ottawa, Canada in August 2022.

Throughout my summer internship at Labcorp, an established Clinical Research Organization, I was assigned to an international clinical study with 350+ sites across 30+ countries. For this project, I developed and maintained tracking systems for all data, including the Trial Master File, for clinical trial activities for 40 hours per week. I provided support to internal project team members on reconciliation of data, quality control, and report generation. I was able to attend weekly sponsor meetings, internal teleconferences, and intern cohort sessions to grow in my professionalism and knowledge of the clinical research industry. This experience broadened my horizon, as I got to see first-hand the impact drug delivery and development has on patients in need, on a global scale.

As a part of the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at East Carolina University in the College of Allied Health Sciences, I conducted research in Biomedical Engineering that was funded by the National Science Foundation. For 40 hours each week during the summer, I investigated simulations, imaging, and modeling of neural mapping systems using Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). Our findings showed brain activation regions and patterns during postural control, and the preliminary data indicated an increase in brain activity with concurrent visual and auditory attention tasks. I presented these findings at the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) research conference in San Antonio, Texas in October 2022.

In this role, I established professional relationships between biotechnological companies and pharmaceutical corporations in order to start technical outsourcing arrangements. Within these relationships, I strategized communications while gaining an overview of the medical technology field, as I collaborated with professionals in the biopharma industry during regular meetings and networking calls for 5 hours per week. Most notably, I solidified a first-hand understanding of the drug development process, from R&D through clinical trial phases to manufacturing and marketing.

As a shift leader promoted to intern, I gained an all-encompassing experience of the food industry - from crafting and selling new products to providing excellent customer service. In my time at Vibe Foods, I mastered the processes of working in a health restaurant for 30 hours per week, as well as grew in my leadership, management, and sales skills.

Over the holiday break, I worked to design and implement an organizational system for the engineering easement files for my local water and sanitation district for 40 hours per week. In this role, I gained an understanding of the water mechanics industry and used detail oriented thinking to complete my tasks.