Caroline Schoenewald
Class of 2020
Bioengineer for Rehab Neural Engineering Labs
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Senior Mask Designer (Mechanical Engineer) for Philips
Finding a Balance
Meet Caroline Schoenewald, a young woman who is not only pursuing her Master’s degree as a full time student, but also working full-time as a staff bioengineer at Rehab Neural Engineering Labs! Caroline graduated from Virginia Tech in May of 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and her background as a collegiate softball player and life-long athlete fostered her interest in the human body including but not limited to muscle activity, movement and orthopedics! Her interest in medical product development has always been there as the laboratory she worked in was a bio-inspired engineering lab working with computational models and biomechanics! Caroline remembers her involvement in these labs fondly,
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“I was also involved in a design team which was responsible for creating a functional and affordable prosthetic knee joint for a free health clinic in Peru. My main responsibilities on this team included generating all CAD designs, 3D printing prototypes, and building the functional design. We worked with a student on campus who used prosthetic limb so we could have real feedback on how our design functioned. This was definitely my favorite project I was involved in during college and it served as huge confirmation for my future plans.”
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This project clearly has aligned Caroline with many of the core curriculum offered in the MS-MPE program, so glad she could bring her prowess to University of Pittsburgh! In addition to student life, her work at Rehab Neural Engineering Labs has given her tons of knowledge of the bioengineering realm, as she works to improve the quality of life for individuals with neurological impairments by creating rehab therapies and technologies!
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Check out all her amazing projects on her website: https://carolineschoenewal.wixsite.com/mysite
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