Transitioning from a small private school to the vast Columbus campus of The Ohio State University felt like diving headfirst into the deep end for Engineering Scholar Talia Sukienik. But what was once overwhelming has transformed into a launchpad for opportunity, creativity, and connection.
Sukienik, a third-year biomedical engineering major, said her transition wasn’t always easy. But through the Engineering Scholars program, Sukienik found and blossomed in a community living right with her in Drackett Tower for her freshman year. “Going to OSU felt really big,” Sukienik said, "But having the Engineering Scholars Program made it feel really small --- it embedded me with a community of friends who were in my grade, in my major, and following the same path I was.”
After going through her first and second year, Sukienik wanted to find an internship opportunity in healthcare that would mix with her love for creation. Through a connection she had in Columbus, Sukienik was able to gain a research-based internship with Nationwide Children’s Hospital, helping create devices to help aid in heart failure research. One of the biggest ways Sukienik contributed to this role is by designing different 3D printed connector pieces and prototypes for research use.
This past summer, she worked on a device related to mitral regurgitation, a condition where the valves in the heart don’t close properly. Sukienik worked with her team to create a new testable version of an existing therapeutic clip, making their lab procedures much easier. Sukienik explains, "Now that they have someone who knows how to 3D print and the ability to get 3D printed products, it's endless now the opportunities of what you can create.”
The scholar reflects on her internship and the road of self-awareness she has taken.
“With doing research, I've printed before, but doing what I've been doing has been entirely new for me. So, I’m kind of just taking it one step at a time, trying to remember that it's okay to ask questions and asking all the questions.”
Outside the lab, that same curiosity and growth continues to follow her into her campus life. Sukienik is the current vice president of the OSU Chabad Student Center, a welcoming space for Jewish students who want to practice and embrace their heritage. They host weekly Friday night dinners for Sabbath and host many other events for Jewish holidays along with fun classes and social events.
Sukienik really enjoyed Scholars, contributing to the engineering scholars leadership council as the marketing and communications chair and furthering her influence on a second-year advisory council led by her Program Manager.
“It was more of a way to stay more involved in Engineering Scholars because again, second year the engagement kind of falls off and it's because you have less requirements. But I really liked being a part of that community first year, so I wanted to stay a part of it second year and that one was more of a fun, creative, but also professional role, a way to stay with my extracurriculars in engineering while Chabad was something I was really passionate about personally,” said Sukienik.
Even with such a strong set of communities, she still finds a way to incorporate her family into her creative passions as well.
Before she was born, Sukienik’s mother was a nail tech and always offered to do her nails and her friends' nails when she was little. “I started really getting into doing my nails through that when I was really little. I've been doing my nails for like a long time now, like probably like 7 or 8 years, like doing them by myself.”
Sukienik regularly posts on her nail Instagram page about the different designs she does. Through nail art, she has gotten into several other art forms including painting, 3D printing, makeup, and crocheting, stating, "Any craft that I haven't tried, I'd be happy to try.”
Whether she’s in the lab, designing bold nail art, leading others with her faith, or engineering a new future, Talia Sukienik has turned a once intimidating campus into a flourishing personal and professional ecosystem, one filled with community, creativity, and purpose.