Female with glasses and shoulder length dark hair, smiling, wearing a light gray blazer with a dark top, standing indoors in front of a bank of windows

Learn more about instructor Caitlyn Collins, why she loves teaching, Virginia Tech, and advice for students interested in biomedical engineering and BEAM.

Why Virginia Tech? What do you love about VT?

I'm still pretty new to VT, but the atmosphere is super collaborative and there are so many opportunities to engage in cutting edge research!

What is your favorite thing about being a professor/faculty member?

I really enjoy working with my students in the lab and exploring new ideas with other faculty and collaborators outside of Virginia Tech. Biomedical Engineering is such a diverse field and there is so many areas to explore that could really impact human health.

What originally got you interested in your teaching/work and/or research?

Bone is a fascinating, highly active tissue, and it's constantly repairing itself and adapting to loading. In fact, for a healthy adult, you have a brand new skeleton about every 5 years!

Bone tissue and cell metabolism is also really important for calcium homeostasis (critical for keeping the whole body running) and this metabolism can be impacted by a lot of diseases. I was really interested in how bone remodeling can have both positive and negative consequences, and how we can use medical imaging and engineering strategies to predict such outcomes.

What advice do you have for students looking to join the Biomedical Engineering field?

Reach out! Talk to faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates involved in research and find out what opportunities there are for getting involved. Most of us love to talk about what we do and are happy to share our experiences and to open up opportunities for new people.

Visit Caitlyn's bio page.