Justin Vankirk

Hometown
Burnsville, WV
Major
Physics
Cohort
15
Status
Fellow
DFE Location
Kalkie, Australia
DFE Abstract
Justin Vankirk spent 8-weeks of the summer working at a Makerspace in Kalkie, Australia as a Trainee Maker. His duties include assisting the Makerspace coordinator and University Research staff to research, design and prototype Assistive Technology in partnership with people with disabilities, machine maintenance, and front desk administration of the Makerspace. Here, he learned the creative process of an engineer through hands-on experience. He implemented customer discovery, communication, design, collaboration, innovation, advocacy, and prototyping skills throughout his experience. Justin also presented to the freshman Physics class, the Kentucky Academy of Science, and to his local hometown to instill a sense of possibility for those who are not so fortunate. Justin gained invaluable soft skills throughout the duration of his stay, as well as the sense to just how powerful networking can be. Justin is a Physics major with a mathematics minor, with a dream to one day become an engineer. His primary advisor was Dr. Tracy Hodge and his secondary advisor was Dr. Peter Hackbert.