Megan O'Brien

My fascination for building, breaking, repairing, and improving things is what drew me into the field of engineering. Early in my childhood, I spent more time handcrafting miniature leather saddles for my model horses than playing with the models themselves. Once I was fortunate enough to have a horse of my own, I spent an entire summer building and painting my own set of show jumps. More recently, I began designing and building a ski-press with an engineering-comrade that will let us fabricate unique wood-core skis.

So far, it has proven to be incredibly rewarding to combine my academic interests with my personal passions.

I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BASc in Mechanical Engineering in 2014. During the five wonderful years of my undergraduate degree, I had the opportunity to explore a wide variety of fields, from cryogenic engineering at TRIUMF, to tissue engineering in Switzerland, to rehabilitation robotics in Vancouver. Now a Master's student in the Precision Engineering Research Group at MIT, I have the unparalleled opportunity to explore my passion for sustainable energy and the environment under the supervision of Dr. Alex Slocum.

Outside of my research, I love to escape to the mountains with skis, bikes, running shoes and climbing gear!