Saturday, October 14
Corvallis, Ore.
10:00 AM
Oregon State
vs
Alumni Meet
Midrez’s Summer Internship Challenges Senior to Grow Outside of Pool
October 13, 2017 | Women's Swimming
Senior from Belgium spent past summer designing 3-D printed training paddles at HP for OSU
CORVALLIS, Ore. – With the annual Alumni Meet for Oregon State swimming set for this Saturday, one senior in particular is reflecting on her opportunities outside the pool and the challenges it brings as a student-athlete competing at the Division-I level.
Noemie Midrez (Verviers, Liège, Belgium) spent the 2017 summer months with an internship at HP to go alongside her degree in chemical engineering, a unique opportunity where she was able to design 3D-printed training paddles that the team uses every day.
"I got this internship at a presentation from Dr. Tim Weber (Global Head, 3-D Materials and Advanced Applications at HP) when he came to Oregon State for engineering student-athletes," said Midrez. "The presentation was about 3-D printing, and he spoke about the new technologies and its applications at HP."
"I was impressed with Noemie," said Dr. Weber. "She's an excellent student-athlete; proactive, hard-working, a team player and was quick to make a contribution to HP's 3-D printing business."
"It was incredibly interesting and exciting for me," continued Midrez. "When I started the internship I was assigned a project about a new powder to 3-D print with."
Midrez finished her first project with the new material ahead of her estimated time frame. Once she completed her task, she moved to working with the machine responsible for taking the materials and producing a 3-D printed product.
"When Noemie started the internship I created a very well-structured plan for her project," said Dr. Anthony Holden, Midrez's mentor and an engineer at HP's 3-D Print Materials and Advanced Applications R&D. "I wanted to be sure the internship would be valuable for Noemie and HP.
"Noemie took on the project, showed great initiative after being given initial direction and completed her first assignment in two weeks when I had expected it to be at least four weeks."
"I got done early so my mentor didn't have a specific project for me," said Midrez. "He asked me what I wanted to do next and asked if I wanted to print something for myself or if I wanted to work on another project. I was interested in learning about how the actual printers work and how to make something out of it."
Midrez took on the task of printing paddles as part of her training regimen with the swim team and asked for feedback from her teammates, refining the process in which the paddles were made in order to provide the best equipment possible.
"When I asked my teammates to try them out and give me feedback, they told me it was a little too heavy at first," said Midrez. "So I took a look at making some changes such as how to make it big enough but not too weak while still having a certain thickness."
After a few iterations, the final product was ready for the swim program and head coach Jennifer Buffin took immediate notice of the new piece of training equipment for the team.
"They are part of our equipment base," said Buffin. "They are a piece of equipment we use almost every day, but for us in growing this program and getting the program visibility, we talk a lot within the staff about how we are branding ourselves. For Noemie to come up with a customized piece of training equipment that will give us more exposure is really great."
The opportunity for Midrez over the summer presented several challenges outside of designing and printing the equipment. More than just helping her achieve new heights while in the water, it allowed the senior to grow the 'student' part of her student-athlete status and will set the foundation for years to come.
"I learned a lot about HP," Midrez added. "About the culture and the work environment. It was great to see how flexible and how open they are with everyone and how they support the development of each individual person.
"I learned a lot about myself and how I can react in situations where I don't have all the tools I need, how to reach out to other people and how to figure things out on my own. It really helped me to build my confidence and to learn how to reach for opportunities, even if you don't know much about it."
Coach Buffin certainly appreciated the amount of time and effort Midrez put into not just the work in the pool, but outside of it as well.
"It was fun for me to see her commitment to us and to this program over the summer," Buffin added. "It tells me a lot about her personality as far as how important the team is to her. For her to think in that situation that not only is this a useful piece of equipment for herself, but it's also something the entire team can benefit from.
"I'm really proud of her for the work she did. I wanted to hear her story about how this came about, how we got to the point where we are printing these paddles and to hear her talk about her working in an area where she's not comfortable. She's learning to grow in the pool and outside of it, so it's only going to help her achieve her goals in the pool."
Now with the summer behind her, Midrez has taken the time to reflect on her opportunity at HP and what it means for her going forward. With her final year of competition already underway, she is looking forward to what the 2017-18 season brings.
"With this internship, I was able to combine everything I love and everything I'm passionate about," Midrez said. "I learned how to grow and what works for me, what I should aim for in life and what I should go for. I learned a lot about my personality. Putting myself in an uncomfortable situation is going to be the best way for me to grow and it was exciting for me to learn something new.
"It was also exciting since it helped me get my confidence up and learn more about life, myself and what's going on around me. I think these paddles were a good way to end my internship and have a memory of it too. They are the first 3-D printed paddles that will ever be used on a college swim team, so it's great."
Along those same lines, Buffin reflected on what it meant for her program in the midst of her second year at the helm.
"There are so many things that, for me as a coach, are important in personal development and personal growth," she said. "Those are probably at the top of my priority list with my student-athletes, and I really believe there is a direct correlation between how are we growing as people and knowing we're never going to be at a point in our life where we're not learning or not growing.
"I tell my athletes that I want them to have these opportunities, and that I want them to pursue what it is they're passionate about and while they're here, how important their swimming is and what it is they want to do next. So for us it was a great combination of doing both, with her being able to put in enough work and enough training in the pool. That's going to help her be better this season, but the personal growth through the internship, in my mind, is going to play a bigger part than the actual, physical training."
Midrez left quite an impression during her internship at HP, and it was more apparent to her mentor than anyone else.
"In the end, Noemie participated in three or four different projects," said Dr. Holden, "and her performance wildly exceeded my expectations. She helped out on a specific study that led HP to file a patent application on which she will be a co-inventor.
"She has many great qualities. She is intelligent, hard-working, shows initiative, is a great team player and has humility at the same time. She was very proactive in reaching out to other people in our lab to understand different areas and skills. I really enjoyed my time working with Noemie and hope she returns to us in the future."
"I'm proud to help the swim team and HP at the same time," Midrez said, "because they gave me a lot."
The Beavers will host their annual Alumni Meet on Saturday, October 14, with the first events scheduled for 10 a.m. PT at the Osborn Aquatic Center.
For more information on the Oregon State swimming team, visit OSUBeavers.com or follow the club @BeaverSwim on Twitter
OREGON STATE ATHLETICS' EVERYDAY CHAMPIONS CULTURE
Through the power of sport, we help people discover and pursue their passions, talents and purpose in order to live a life of balance and positive contribution.
Noemie Midrez (Verviers, Liège, Belgium) spent the 2017 summer months with an internship at HP to go alongside her degree in chemical engineering, a unique opportunity where she was able to design 3D-printed training paddles that the team uses every day.
"I got this internship at a presentation from Dr. Tim Weber (Global Head, 3-D Materials and Advanced Applications at HP) when he came to Oregon State for engineering student-athletes," said Midrez. "The presentation was about 3-D printing, and he spoke about the new technologies and its applications at HP."
"I was impressed with Noemie," said Dr. Weber. "She's an excellent student-athlete; proactive, hard-working, a team player and was quick to make a contribution to HP's 3-D printing business."
"It was incredibly interesting and exciting for me," continued Midrez. "When I started the internship I was assigned a project about a new powder to 3-D print with."
Midrez finished her first project with the new material ahead of her estimated time frame. Once she completed her task, she moved to working with the machine responsible for taking the materials and producing a 3-D printed product.
"When Noemie started the internship I created a very well-structured plan for her project," said Dr. Anthony Holden, Midrez's mentor and an engineer at HP's 3-D Print Materials and Advanced Applications R&D. "I wanted to be sure the internship would be valuable for Noemie and HP.
"Noemie took on the project, showed great initiative after being given initial direction and completed her first assignment in two weeks when I had expected it to be at least four weeks."
"I got done early so my mentor didn't have a specific project for me," said Midrez. "He asked me what I wanted to do next and asked if I wanted to print something for myself or if I wanted to work on another project. I was interested in learning about how the actual printers work and how to make something out of it."
Midrez took on the task of printing paddles as part of her training regimen with the swim team and asked for feedback from her teammates, refining the process in which the paddles were made in order to provide the best equipment possible.
"When I asked my teammates to try them out and give me feedback, they told me it was a little too heavy at first," said Midrez. "So I took a look at making some changes such as how to make it big enough but not too weak while still having a certain thickness."
After a few iterations, the final product was ready for the swim program and head coach Jennifer Buffin took immediate notice of the new piece of training equipment for the team.
"They are part of our equipment base," said Buffin. "They are a piece of equipment we use almost every day, but for us in growing this program and getting the program visibility, we talk a lot within the staff about how we are branding ourselves. For Noemie to come up with a customized piece of training equipment that will give us more exposure is really great."
The opportunity for Midrez over the summer presented several challenges outside of designing and printing the equipment. More than just helping her achieve new heights while in the water, it allowed the senior to grow the 'student' part of her student-athlete status and will set the foundation for years to come.
"I learned a lot about HP," Midrez added. "About the culture and the work environment. It was great to see how flexible and how open they are with everyone and how they support the development of each individual person.
"I learned a lot about myself and how I can react in situations where I don't have all the tools I need, how to reach out to other people and how to figure things out on my own. It really helped me to build my confidence and to learn how to reach for opportunities, even if you don't know much about it."
Coach Buffin certainly appreciated the amount of time and effort Midrez put into not just the work in the pool, but outside of it as well.
"It was fun for me to see her commitment to us and to this program over the summer," Buffin added. "It tells me a lot about her personality as far as how important the team is to her. For her to think in that situation that not only is this a useful piece of equipment for herself, but it's also something the entire team can benefit from.
"I'm really proud of her for the work she did. I wanted to hear her story about how this came about, how we got to the point where we are printing these paddles and to hear her talk about her working in an area where she's not comfortable. She's learning to grow in the pool and outside of it, so it's only going to help her achieve her goals in the pool."
Now with the summer behind her, Midrez has taken the time to reflect on her opportunity at HP and what it means for her going forward. With her final year of competition already underway, she is looking forward to what the 2017-18 season brings.
"With this internship, I was able to combine everything I love and everything I'm passionate about," Midrez said. "I learned how to grow and what works for me, what I should aim for in life and what I should go for. I learned a lot about my personality. Putting myself in an uncomfortable situation is going to be the best way for me to grow and it was exciting for me to learn something new.
"It was also exciting since it helped me get my confidence up and learn more about life, myself and what's going on around me. I think these paddles were a good way to end my internship and have a memory of it too. They are the first 3-D printed paddles that will ever be used on a college swim team, so it's great."
Along those same lines, Buffin reflected on what it meant for her program in the midst of her second year at the helm.
"There are so many things that, for me as a coach, are important in personal development and personal growth," she said. "Those are probably at the top of my priority list with my student-athletes, and I really believe there is a direct correlation between how are we growing as people and knowing we're never going to be at a point in our life where we're not learning or not growing.
"I tell my athletes that I want them to have these opportunities, and that I want them to pursue what it is they're passionate about and while they're here, how important their swimming is and what it is they want to do next. So for us it was a great combination of doing both, with her being able to put in enough work and enough training in the pool. That's going to help her be better this season, but the personal growth through the internship, in my mind, is going to play a bigger part than the actual, physical training."
Midrez left quite an impression during her internship at HP, and it was more apparent to her mentor than anyone else.
"In the end, Noemie participated in three or four different projects," said Dr. Holden, "and her performance wildly exceeded my expectations. She helped out on a specific study that led HP to file a patent application on which she will be a co-inventor.
"She has many great qualities. She is intelligent, hard-working, shows initiative, is a great team player and has humility at the same time. She was very proactive in reaching out to other people in our lab to understand different areas and skills. I really enjoyed my time working with Noemie and hope she returns to us in the future."
"I'm proud to help the swim team and HP at the same time," Midrez said, "because they gave me a lot."
The Beavers will host their annual Alumni Meet on Saturday, October 14, with the first events scheduled for 10 a.m. PT at the Osborn Aquatic Center.
For more information on the Oregon State swimming team, visit OSUBeavers.com or follow the club @BeaverSwim on Twitter
OREGON STATE ATHLETICS' EVERYDAY CHAMPIONS CULTURE
Through the power of sport, we help people discover and pursue their passions, talents and purpose in order to live a life of balance and positive contribution.
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