Samantha Wang is a junior electrical engineering major. She was born in Wuhan, China, but lives in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

How did you get interested in electrical engineering?

My interest for EE started during high school when I founded my school’s FIRST Robotics Team. It was really applicable because although I had no previous class or exposure to circuitry components, I was able to learn the basics, experience it hands-on, and watch it all come to life. Before I knew it, I was spending all my time in the workshop building robots. When I applied to college, I knew I wanted to be more involved and get a professional degree in this area.

What made you decide to come to Johns Hopkins?

What really attracted me to this university is its many research opportunities. Everyone I talked to before coming here was involved in research in some aspect. I knew I would want to do the same, and the research projects are all extremely diverse and appealing especially since you can do research on the Homewood campus, at the med campus, or in the School of Public Health. The opportunities are endless.

What research are you involved with in the department? What’s your role?

I am currently doing research in the Computational Sensory-Motor Systems Lab under the guidance of Dr. Ralph Etienne-Cummings. I work on an instrumentation project in the process of developing a medical device that uses electrophoresis to aid in the effects of wound healing. It involves current modeling and simulations, circuitry development, and animal testing.

Outside of lab and class: what are you involved with (groups, organizations, intramurals, etc.)?

I am a board member in the Chinese Student Association, I am part of Eclectics, a really fun dance group on campus, and I am pretty active in Health Leads. Health Leads is a program where advocates connect patients in Baltimore City and surrounding areas with personalized resources in many areas of social needs such as employment, health insurance, and housing.