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If you’d asked me about participating in undergraduate research later in my degree, I’d have said I'd missed my window. But this experience taught me that opportunities don't always appear where — or when! — you expect them.

Last fall, my mum, who works in a school, mentioned that someone was supporting children at her school who cannot communicate using speech. I emailed her to learn more, and she eventually became my PURE Award supervisor. Eventually she decided that the tech required further refining and suggested that I apply for the PURE Award to work with her over the summer. It was also a transdisciplinary project, which really intrigued me. It’s easy to get stuck in one discipline, but there’s so much value in thinking bigger. Everyone brings their unique piece of the puzzle, right?  

 Our study focuses on communication brain-computer interface (cBCI) technology that helps people with neurodevelopmental disorders communicate. We help kids who can’t communicate through speech or body movement express themselves. Currently, the technology is mostly used with adult populations who have degenerative conditions. The use of this technology in paediatric populations is still emerging. If you’ve never been able to communicate, how can you learn what a tambourine is at the same time as asking for it?  

 My focus was on improving the classification accuracy of the cBCI technology. The most powerful moments came during testing sessions watching a child's eyes light up when the computer correctly identified their choice of one of four musical instruments. For the first time, they could ask for what they needed instead of accepting what was offered. That moment made every challenge worth it.