Story by Drew Stapp:

Wichita State senior Gabi Mostrom grew up as the middle of three girls, all of who played college volleyball. Her oldest sister, Dani, recently graduated from Wichita State with a degree in health science and was a four-year starter at libero. Jacqui is her younger sister, who is pursuing a degree in chemical engineering and playing volleyball for the University of Kansas. Though all three have become collegiate athletes, their parents highly stressed the importance of a quality education. For Gabi, achieving this task means obtaining a degree in biomedical engineering.
 
Since it is a relatively new field, there is an understandable reason why many athletes choose not to study biomedical engineering. Yet, across the collegiate sports spectrum, athletes are not generally engineering or medical students. The fact she has chosen such a field with her schedule is impressive, but what exactly is biomedical engineering anyway?
 
The overall notion is relatively simple, but the actual applied concepts in the field are, to say the least, intricate. Gabi explained the field is about "applying engineering to biology". At its core, biomedical engineering is dedicated to improving health and health care. One way the field has been successful is with artificial limbs. At Johns Hopkins University, researchers have created prosthetic limbs, which can be controlled by one's mind through an implant in the brain. This work was a monumental step in integrating technology with the human body.
 
Though progress in biomedical engineering can be recognizable, sometimes its effects are much more subtle. Over the summer, Gabi conducted research at the University of Virginia in Charleston. She mainly worked systemic computational research, modeling a muscle in the soft palate of the human mouth. This muscle, known as the "levator veli palatini muscle", is responsible for contracting while eating and speaking, as well as reducing pressure in the middle ear. More specifically, it prevents food from entering the nose while eating, and allows hard consonants to be spoken. Her main job was to input data into algorithms contrived on how the muscle will contract.  She would then gather the outputs of how much the "velopharyngeal port" or hole between the nasal cavity and throat will close. The subjects she studied were from normal functioning levator muscles.
 
Some children though, are born with what is known as a "cleft palate" which is an opening in the roof of the mouth or lip. Those born with a cleft palate have difficulty speaking and eating. Surgeries to help mitigate the effects of a cleft pallet tend to have sub-optimal results in approximately 25%-30% of cases, requiring the affected children to have either another surgery, or participate in speech therapy. The research she conducted will have a meaningful impact on those who are affected with the condition by helping develop better surgery techniques.
 
Though she greatly appreciated her experience at UVA, Gabi is excited to be back at Wichita State studying and competing. Especially competing. She would never want to admit it, but Gabi has a deep desire to win. Combined with her "low-key" attitude, it would be easy to oversee her as being worthy competition in whatever she does. She sees this aspect as being a part of her method to success. Gabi's quiet, humble nature has allowed her to focus on the tasks set before her while being able to ignore distractions.
 
Her perspective is also one that is team-centric. Unification of the team is an important goal for her, even if it is not in her best interest. She admits there are times when she has a burning desire to play, but she has great trust in coach Lamb and her teammates. "There are times when I want to be on the court, but Lambo is always looking for new ways to make the team better." The team-first attitude also is important because "every person is competing for a spot to play; it is especially difficult since you are competing with your closest friend, or roommate, and you have to spend every day with these people…but overall, we all love this sport.  We all want to perform at the highest level possible and the team as a whole to succeed. So being the best teammate we can individually helps toward that goal. Even if you are not playing in the game, you are still contributing to the team."
 
As a senior, this season will be different than years past. Over the past summer, Wichita State moved from the Missouri Valley to the American Athletic Conference. Even with the move, the Shockers are ranked first in the preseason poll. Gabi sees themselves still as underdogs.
 
"It is an exciting challenge. There are all of these new teams that we have never really seen before. Lambo likes to say 'it's an entire season of preseason.' And he loves preseason. For us, it's fun to take on these bigger teams and maybe pull out an upset."
 
For now, Gabi is focusing on getting ready for classes, which started on August 21^st. Her final undergraduate year will be hectic, balancing volleyball and completing her degree. Furthermore, she is examining the prospect of graduate school.
 
As for her career aspirations, Gabi wants to work with an athletic equipment company creating new solutions and technology to treat certain injuries or improve player performance. However, she is open to the idea of anything hands-on in the field.