Andrew Gibson is a College of Engineering senior and will receive his bachelor’s degree in computer science in May 2026. In his Applied Learning Experience, Gibson is a research assistant at Envision Research Institute. Envision is a Wichita, Kansas, nonprofit that provides services for people who are blind or visually impaired, including employment opportunities, clinical rehabilitation services, childcare and an art program. As a research institute, Envision employs a research team that works together to aid the blind and visually impaired community. Gibson uses his computer science knowledge as a research assistant to advance Envision’s mission.
“Almost all my understanding of the scientific research industry has come from my job as a research assistant,” Gibson said.
At Envision, Gibson’s primary assignments center on automation, data analysis and writing literature reviews. For his role, he was trained to understand the ethical framework surrounding modern scientific research in America. At work, he analyzes data with software programs like SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), R and other programs for data analysis. He uses applications like Mendeley and EndNote for literature reviews.
To conduct literature reviews, Gibson first reads published research before data collection, analysis and writing. Through this three-step process, Gibson grew in research and writing best practices.
In data collection, Gibson codes Python scripts for data analysis. Afterward, writing requires him to familiarize himself with the research journal’s writing standards and style. This was a step he found troublesome.
“Writing isn’t necessarily hard, but it requires that you have a solid base in your data analysis, tables and figures and a strong source catalog,” Gibson said. “Writing depends on how well noted each step taken in research is. It also requires careful wording and framing for any prospective peer reviewer.”
At Envision, Gibson discovered how unconventionality in the sciences and career exploration leads to creative solutions and findings.
He experienced this firsthand.
After a few weeks on the job, Gibson was tasked to find a method to measure the center of pressure of individuals across various conditions. The method had to be accurate and economical as clinical lab equipment costs tens of thousands of dollars.
The solution? A Wii Balance Board.
Through research and manipulating and combining programs, Gibson and Envision can now find centers of pressure in experiments, all with a Wii Balance Board, an office laptop and a revised R coding program by another researcher.
“The research scientists I work with remind me of artists,” Gibson said. “When they analyze data, you see their brains light up with excitement, considering the many ways to investigate data. Their creativity comes from their decisions on what tests to perform, or how to turn certain data factors into a visual.”
Gibson was not only exposed to creativity in research, but also to the members of the community he was helping. He became educated about Wichita’s blind and visually impaired community, their conditions, treatments and personal experiences.
He also became the youngest researcher to submit a scientific abstract to the prestigious international conference ARVO (Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology), which is scheduled to be held in Denver in May 2026. If the abstract is selected, he will be among approximately 12,000 vision scientists invited to present their research to the scientific community, and his abstract will be published in the ARVO journal.
At Envision, Gibson had a broad learning experience, including mentorship from researcher Dr. Sarika Gopalakrishnan, and shadowing medical Dr. Donald Fletcher. He learned various new research tools such as SPSS, JASP and NVivo while practicing Python and R coding languages. Gibson’s Applied Learning Experience bridged his computer science background to academia with creativity.
Gibson’s role was made possible by Wichita State’s Applied Learning Fund, which enables students to get career-ready through paid Applied Learning Experiences.
“Working in a field outside my own career path made great use of my technical skills,” Gibson said. “I was able to develop my own skills and gain new ones outside my major as well.”
Wichita State's applied learning program gives students hands-on, paid experience with industry partners, helping them build careers before graduation.
For more information, contact the Shocker Career Accelerator at (316) 978-3688, SCA@wichita.edu, or visit wichita.edu/Career. You can also stop by in person at the Marcus Welcome Center, Suite 139, on the Wichita State campus.
Courtesy Photo
Courtesy Photo
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