ICDS News

Staff Spotlight: Caroline McLaughlin

Caroline McLaughlin, research engineering project manager, recently leaped right into her role at the Penn State Institute for Computational Data Sciences by working on various projects including works on cyberinfrastructure and information sciences and technology. 

McLaughlin, who started at ICDS on Oct. 14, studied engineering science at Penn State where she worked in a research lab doing corrosion engineering. McLaughlin comes from a long line of Penn State engineers. 

At Penn State, her engineering thesis was for a Navy project involving a corrosion sensor. In the course of her time at Penn State, she completed internships related to such corrosion work and upon graduation, she decided to dive into proposal development. McLaughlin also has worked as an engineer at a manufacturer and moved into a quality manager role where she stood up quality management systems (QMS) and everything from documentation to execution of policies.  

“I really enjoyed digging into quality engineering,” McLaughlin said. “I like seeing new and different challenges and not having the same problems arise time after time. A common thread between all of the work I have done has been project management. Those same skills transfer across a bunch of different fields.” 

At ICDS, McLaughlin works as part of a team with Galen Lentz, high-performance computing project manager; Halley Maxin, high-performance computing project manager; and Suzy Unger, project coordinator, where she has already been a part of various projects. 

“Caroline has hit the ground running with both feet and has embraced every effort we have put in front of her so far. We are excited to have her on board as we continue to grow the Project Management Office into a center of excellence for research at Penn State,” Lentz said. 

McLaughlin is working on the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Campus Cyberinfrastructure (CC*) Pennsylvania Science DMZ (PA Science DMZ) project which aims to address critical cyberinfrastructure and connectivity gaps at under-resourced institutions across the state. ICDS Assistant Director Wayne Figurelle is the principal investigator on the DMZ project.  

She is also working on several interconnected projects with ICDS co-hire Dana Calacci’s research group and the Workers’ Algorithm Observatory (WAO) which seeks to develop tools and support for workers and allies of workers to crowdsource rideshare and delivery worker data and investigate black-box algorithmic systems that determine worker pay and schedules, according to the WAO website.  

McLaughlin is also working on a Materials Research Institute (MRI) data storage project with Lindsay Wells, ICDS systems engineer, and Josh Stapleton, associate research professor and Materials Characterization Lab director. 

“Everybody at ICDS has been really welcoming to me and I really appreciate that,” McLaughlin said.  

In her free time, McLaughlin and her husband are currently remodeling a house, to which she noted she could talk about for hours. She also enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, camping and miniature golf. McLaughlin and her husband also have a cat and two horses. 

Share

Related Posts

• Featured Researcher: Nick Tusay
• Multi-institutional team to use AI to evaluate social, behavioral science claims
• NSF invests in cyberinfrastructure institute to harness cosmic data
• Center for Immersive Experiences set to debut, serving researchers and students
• Distant Suns, Distant Worlds
• CyberScience Seminar: Researcher to discuss how AI can help people avoid adverse drug interactions
• AI could offer warnings about serious side effects of drug-drug interactions
• Taking RTKI drugs during radiotherapy may not aid survival, worsens side effects
• Cost-effective cloud research computing options now available for researchers
• Costs of natural disasters are increasing at the high end
• Model helps choose wind farm locations, predicts output
• Virus may jump species through ‘rock-and-roll’ motion with receptors
• Researchers seek to revolutionize catalyst design with machine learning
• Resilient Resumes team places third in Nittany AI Challenge
• ‘AI in Action’: Machine learning may help scientists explore deep sleep
• Clickbait Secrets Exposed! Humans and AI team up to improve clickbait detection
• Focusing computational power for more accurate, efficient weather forecasts
• How many Earth-like planets are around sun-like stars?
• Professor receives NSF grant to model cell disorder in heart
• SMH! Brains trained on e-devices may struggle to understand scientific info
• Whole genome sequencing may help officials get a handle on disease outbreaks
• New tool could reduce security analysts’ workloads by automating data triage
• Careful analysis of volcano’s plumbing system may give tips on pending eruptions
• Reducing farm greenhouse gas emissions may plant the seed for a cooler planet
• Using artificial intelligence to detect discrimination
• Four ways scholars say we can cut the chances of nasty satellite data surprises
• Game theory shows why stigmatization may not make sense in modern society
• Older adults can serve communities as engines of everyday innovation
• Pig-Pen effect: Mixing skin oil and ozone can produce a personal pollution cloud
• Researchers find genes that could help create more resilient chickens
• Despite dire predictions, levels of social support remain steady in the U.S.
• For many, friends and family, not doctors, serve as a gateway to opioid misuse
• New algorithm may help people store more pictures, share videos faster
• Head named for Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering
• Scientific evidence boosts action for activists, decreases action for scientists
• People explore options, then selectively represent good options to make difficult decisions
• Map reveals that lynching extended far beyond the deep South
• Gravitational forces in protoplanetary disks push super-Earths close to stars
• Supercomputer cluster donation helps turn high school class into climate science research lab
• Believing machines can out-do people may fuel acceptance of self-driving cars
• People more likely to trust machines than humans with their private info
• IBM donates system to Penn State to advance AI research
• ICS Seed Grants to power projects that use AI, machine learning for common good
• Penn State Berks team advances to MVP Phase of Nittany AI Challenge
• Creepy computers or people partners? Working to make AI that enhances humanity
• Sky is clearing for using AI to probe weather variability
• ‘AI will see you now’: Panel to discuss the AI revolution in health and medicine
• Privacy law scholars must address potential for nasty satellite data surprises
• Researchers take aim at hackers trying to attack high-value AI models
• Girls, economically disadvantaged less likely to get parental urging to study computers
• Seed grants awarded to projects using Twitter data
• Researchers find features that shape mechanical force during protein synthesis
• A peek at living room decor suggests how decorations vary around the world
• Interactive websites may cause antismoking messages to backfire
• Changing how government assesses risk may ease fallout from extreme financial events
• Symposium at U.S. Capitol seeks solutions to election security
• ICS co-sponsors Health, Environment Seed Grant Program
• Differences in genes’ geographic origin influence mitochondrial function
• ICS Affiliate named AGU fellow