Posted: October 21, 2017, 10:27am
Hiking and camping at Joshua Tree National Park.
The best kind of travel always mixes work and play. This year, the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Annual Meeting was held in Phoenix, Arizona across four days. Since it was a lot closer than previous conferences (San Antonio, Tampa, Minneapolis to name the last three), we decided to road trip out there and make a few stops along the way. Driving through Cabazon and Palm Springs, we spent the first day on the outskirts of Joshua Tree National Park and enjoying our campsite at Black Rock. The beautiful fire we had going all night provided enough heat to cook steak and potatoes and warm us as we took in the stars (and a couple of comets!). The next day, we did several hikes within the actual park and checked-in at our gorgeous historical Airbnb home. With three kings beds, two twins, and three couches, the 8 of us had more than enough space and had a chance to spread out and relax.
We also had a chance to drive up to the Grand Canyon and explore the lower Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend! It was quite a trek up there, but it was definitely worth it. Our native guides were extremely engaging and knowledgeable, so we learned a lot about both the natural and tribal history of that area. For our last excursion, we visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West, his winter home and architecture school. Having toured Fallingwater in Pennsylvania before, I was astounded again at his ability to integrate local materials into his work and blend the structure into the landscape. If you’re ever in Phoenix, I highly recommend stopping by this unique place!
Presenting a poster at the 2017 Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting!
Across the three labs that occupy my workspace, we had 4 students give oral presentations and 7 present posters. I met a handful of major players within the tissue engineering field and received a lot of thoughtful feedback on my project and future directions. Attending conferences such as these is always invigorating, so I’m excited to get back to work and put everything I’ve learned to good use. Hopefully, I’ll be able to give a talk at next year’s BMES gathering!
Published on October 21st, 2017
Last updated on April 1st, 2021