{"674532":{"#nid":"674532","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Exploring One Grad Student\u2019s Trailblazing Research Journey","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis is part three of the feature on Mo Jarin. Jarin is a Ph.D. student in environmental engineering who expects to graduate in May 2025. See \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/grad.gatech.edu\/news\/exploring-one-grad-students-trailblazing-research-journey\u0022\u003Epart one\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/grad.gatech.edu\/news\/exploring-one-grad-students-trailblazing-research-journey-0\u0022\u003Epart two\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGo out and fail. That was what Mo Jarin set out to do as part of a seven-week boot camp she was awarded through the entrepreneurial-focused U.S. National Science Foundation\u2019s Innovation Corps program (NSF I-Corps).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EJourney through Entrepreneurial Challenges\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe NSF I-Corps program prepares participants to extend their focus beyond the university laboratory and translate it to the marketplace. Entrepreneurship is a non-traditional career path for researchers, but Jarin wanted to explore the transformation of invention to impact with her lab\u2019s pioneering water disinfection technology.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was the most challenging thing I have ever done,\u201d said Jarin. \u201cI have worked tremendously hard over the last several years, but that was still the most challenging experience I have had.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENSF I-Corps participants are supposed to work in teams of three, but amidst the backdrop of a global pandemic in 2021, Jarin navigated the program largely solo. This included conducting over 100 interviews with industry experts and potential consumers all over the country, with the goal of figuring out where her technology could have the most value and impact.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EConducting these interviews alone made the program tremendously difficult, but a key aspect of this program is that participants must fail.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThey want you to fail\u2013they push you until you fail,\u201d said Jarin. \u201cIn startups, the more failures you have, the closer you\u2019re getting to success.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAt one point throughout the process, Jarin realized that the market she was focusing on was not going to work out.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI needed to do a full pivot, and that was the real low,\u201d said Jarin. \u201cIt was one of the lowest points of my doctoral degree dealing with failure over and over again in this program.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EEmbracing Growth in the Face of Failure\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThinking back on that time, Jarin can see how much the program pushed her to grow.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe program itself drained me, but the takeaways lasted for years,\u201d said Jarin. \u201cI didn\u2019t know them at the time, but I realized I am more open to failure, more open to pivoting, more open to feedback, criticism, ability to pitch, interview, speak with strangers, present\u2013 everything had been opened up so that my growth opportunity was tremendously larger.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis experience allowed Jarin to make the most out of her entrepreneurial and doctoral journey. She continues to demonstrate her willingness to take risks and face new challenges during her time at Tech. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJarin has gone on to win the CEE Entrepreneurial Impact Prize, CRIDC Innovation Competition, Georgia Research Alliance Phase I Grant, and NSF Partnerships for Innovation Award. She was also part of the inaugural Female Founders cohort at Tech, a CREATE-X initiative to \u201cprovide a space for female-led entrepreneurial teams to explore a first business model, engage with an all-female coaching team, interact with successful female entrepreneurs, and receive non-dilutive funding.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EBalancing Act: Jarin\u2019s Struggles to Find Balance\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBetween the research and competitions and expos and mentorship, Jarin admits that she has not come to find balance in her doctoral program easily.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI don\u2019t want to be one of those people that says, \u2018I\u2019ve got everything under control,\u2019\u201d said Jarin. \u201cI think it\u2019s best to be honest and say that we\u2019re all struggling. I think as long as you have interest in what you\u2019re doing, I think you can find a sense of well-being.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of Jarin\u2019s rules is that if an experiment fails twice in one day, she likes to leave the scene and come back the next day.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019ve started getting in the habit of going to Buford Highway as my comfort place,\u201d said Jarin. \u201cI\u2019m a big boba fan, so I like to try to go find good boba outside the city.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EThe Next Chapter\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENow in her fourth year at Tech, Jarin is keeping an open mind for her future.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI just got accepted as a Future Faculty Fellow in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, so I\u2019ll get the opportunity to work with different mentors and in coordination with the Tech to Teaching program,\u201d said Jarin.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThrough Jarin\u2019s experience teaching, she has discovered that she likes working with students. She sees herself pursuing an academic role around leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the future.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI enjoy breaking all of the constructs that have been built before me,\u201d said Jarin. \u201cI want to break what a traditional Ph.D. looks like.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EStay tuned for Jarin\u2019s final feature on boba recommendations around Atlanta.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Follow Mo Jarin\u2019s Quest for Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Personal Triumphs in the World of Environmental Engineering"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGo out and fail. That was what Mo Jarin set out to do as part of a seven-week boot camp she was awarded through the entrepreneurial-focused U.S. National Science Foundation\u2019s Innovation Corps program (NSF I-Corps).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Go out and fail. That was what Mo Jarin set out to do as part of a seven-week boot camp she was awarded through the entrepreneurial-focused U.S. National Science Foundation\u2019s Innovation Corps program (NSF I-Corps).\u00a0"}],"uid":"36249","created_gmt":"2024-05-06 19:06:48","changed_gmt":"2024-05-06 20:19:47","author":"Sara Franc","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-04-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-04-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"673954":{"id":"673954","type":"image","title":"Mo Jarin presenting at Three Minute Thesis","body":null,"created":"1715026259","gmt_created":"2024-05-06 20:10:59","changed":"1715026259","gmt_changed":"2024-05-06 20:10:59","alt":"Mo Jarin presenting at Three Minute Thesis","file":{"fid":"257411","name":"DSC_1814-Enhanced-NR.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/06\/DSC_1814-Enhanced-NR.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/06\/DSC_1814-Enhanced-NR.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":744786,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/05\/06\/DSC_1814-Enhanced-NR.jpg?itok=W_LUlKN_"}}},"media_ids":["673954"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/grad.gatech.edu\/news\/exploring-one-grad-students-trailblazing-research-journey","title":"Mo Jarin, Part One"},{"url":"https:\/\/grad.gatech.edu\/news\/exploring-one-grad-students-trailblazing-research-journey-0","title":"Mo Jarin, Part Two"}],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1808","name":"graduate students"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:sara.franc@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESara Franc\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nOffice of Graduate and Postdoctoral Education\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}