Like many, Tori Kocsis (Johnstown, Pa. / Richland) saw her outdoor track season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unlike many, however, the junior Duquesne distance runner was provided the opportunity to fight back.

While home completing her coursework online, Kocsis received a text from a friend in her biomedical engineering program. It was a link to the Johns Hopkins Center for Bioengineering Innovation & Design (CBID) COVID-19 Virtual Design Challenge.

It was a chance to compete.

The challenge was to develop innovative solutions to the problems posed by the COVID-19 pandemic – in five days.

"One of my friends texted me and said, we should do this, it would give us something to do while we are at home since we can't research in a lab right now," Kocsis said. "I thought sure, sign me up, it'll be fun."

There were a number of themes in which participating student teams could choose from including:

• Supporting and protecting front-line healthcare staff and their families.
• Equipping people with accurate information so they can make informed decisions.
• Minimizing transmission of the coronavirus in homes and communities.
• Addressing shortages of critical health care equipment.
• Designing solutions that can work in low and middle income countries around the world.

Kocsis – along with five other Duquesne students – decided to take the front-line healthcare route because of their backgrounds in biomedical engineering.

The group ended up creating virtual designs for an N-95 mask with replaceable filters that could significantly extend the life and number of uses per mask. This was in response to the shortage of these masks in hospitals across the country at the time.

"It would reduce how much filter material you would need on the mask," described Kocsis. "The mask mold itself would be able to be reused, and the filter would just need to be replaced as it became saturated."

The Duquesne group met over Zoom nightly, sharing and implementing ideas for the design before ultimately preparing the presentation.

Kocsis and the group presented the mask design to personnel from the Johns Hopkins CBID as well as other competing schools.

"The thing about competitions is that you know you want yours to be the best, but it's also really cool to see ideas from researchers from other schools and seeing what they are coming up with," explained Kocsis. 

The CBID is now sharing some designs with companies that manufacture N-95 masks.

Kocsis, a proven competitor on the cross country course and track, is equally adept in her academic pursuits.

As a freshmen, she was part of a group of Duquesne students who took part in the NASA Microgravity NExT Challenge, which challenges undergraduate students to design, build, and test a tool or device that addresses an authentic, current space exploration issue.

Kocsis and her team members designed and created a zip-tie cutter, which can be very helpful to astronauts in space.

"Our goal was to make an ambidextrous zip tie cutter that would be able to work in a microgravity setting," Kocsis said. "We had to design it so it would be easy for astronauts to use since their gloves are so bulky."

Kocsis worked on the safety features of the design and also helped the group secure funding. She was one of six Duquesne students to travel to the Johnson Space Center in Houston to present their product, which was tested by divers in the buoyancy center on site. The group was communicating with the divers while they tested the product in the pool.

Being on the NASA campus was a surreal experience for Kocsis, who was a freshman at the time.

"It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, beyond what I could have ever imagined," she said. "While we were testing our device, we saw astronauts going through training in the water. It really was mind-boggling to see how much work that goes into it."

With these academic competitions and rigorous course load in addition to her own independent research, Kocsis noted running as her outlet.

"It's what keeps me grounded, it's what keeps me focused," she said. "It's my relief from hard work with school."

Left unsatisfied with her performance at the A-10 Indoor Track and Field Championship, she was looking forward to improving her marks during the spring outdoor season.

However, Kocsis feels as if she made some big strides over the last cross country and indoor track seasons which helped her build confidence for the 2019-20 campaigns.

Kocsis posted a number of personal records during the indoor season, including a 17:49.30 in the 5,000-meter run, good for a second-place finish, in addition to a 10:07.56 in the 3,000-meter at Kent State's Doug Raymond Invitational.

She finished 38th at the 2019 Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championship and was regularly a top-five finisher for the Dukes.

Kocsis has shifted her focus to the upcoming cross country season and has her sights set on a number of goals for the fall.

"This year in cross country I want to be all-conference in the top 15, I want to be a leader for my team and help pull them along," Kocsis said. "I want our team to finish top three. I know we have some great freshman talent coming in and I just want to help be a leader and make that happen."

Kocsis credits her teammates with her intense drive and work ethic not only on the track, but in the classroom as well.

"A lot of people perceive running to be an individualized sport, but there is a really big team aspect too," she said. "When your teammates see you're doing well either academically or on the track, it motivates you to do the same thing."

Upon graduation, Kocsis plans to pursue an MD-PhD, a dual medical and doctorate degree which will one day allow her to become a physician conducting research in a hospital setting. She is using some down time this summer to study for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) in order to apply for these postgraduate programs.

A very ambitious individual, Kocsis believes attending Duquesne has helped propel her to obtaining her goals.

"Choosing Duquesne has been a big blessing in my life," Kocsis said. "It always felt like the right fit after talking with Coach [Jim] Lear and with the head of my program, Dr. John Viator.

"Looking back on my first three years, I couldn't have asked for anything more."