By Kat Billo ’24
“My name is Marin Oehler. I am from Elkridge Maryland it’s a little bit outside of Baltimore in the suburb area.”
What are you studying, and what is your class?
“So I am a junior this year and biomedical engineering is my major and I’m minoring in cellular and molecular biology.”
So, why engineering?
“I chose engineering, specifically biomed, because I was really interested in the health field and really just wanted to help people and create those products that can enable and help people. And the engineering part of it, I was interested in the technical skills associated with it and I really found an interest in biology, because I was also interested in how we can incorporate that into technology.”
How is the sense of community at URI, are you in any student orgs?
“I definitely think there is a really great sense of community here. I feel that our student clubs and student organizations, especially in the school of engineering, are very, very strong. We have so many different clubs that are offered and you can really find your people within them. I am a part of the society of women engineers and also a part of our women engineering mentorship program, so I really found my people and my friends through these organizations and have really had fun being in them.”
What do you want to do when you finish here?
“After I graduate I really just want to jump right into the industry and kind of explore all the different career paths because the field is so large. I just want to explore and see what there is and then go one to get my masters or phd.”
What’s your best memory at URI Engineering
“Definitely my best memories are the LLCs, I felt like this was a big starting feature at URI because you live with everyone in your major. I met all of my friends, all of my roommates there and we now have been living together for three years, and it’s kind of where I met my family and my place here at URI.”
Things URI Engineering has that other engineering schools don’t?
“One thing about URI that’s really special is that it is a huge research institution. I think the research opportunities here on campus are really broad, really great. If you are pursuing one major that doesn’t ensure you are doing research for just that major, you can still branch out and pursue any research you want. There are so many professors that are willing and want every student to explore what they’re interested in. For example, I’m in biomedical engineering, but I’m in a lab that’s more geared towards pharmaceutical sciences and chemical engineering, so that’s really great to see all the different majors and there’s so many different mindsets and backgrounds, and people helping out within our lab.”
Do you get to do any hands-on research or learning?
“I can’t do a capstone till senior year, so the lab I’m working for is just kind of like for fun. I’m working in the Menin lab this year, it’s for nanotherapeutics and biomaterials engineering. I’m working on two projects right now geared more towards microplastics, not really health related, but it’s still a cool project because it’s geared towards being able to filter wastewater and the microplastics in them using what we call hydrogels and they have different properties at different chemical points and we’re able to filter water using those. And then another project I’m working on is more on the medical side, we’re looking at particles to carry an anti cancer drug to treat liver cancer, and that’s more towards drug delivery so we are able to target a specific region of the body using these particles. It’s really interesting because I’m able to gain all these lab skills outside of the labs I have to take for school and course work in general, so it’s a great opportunity for me to learn.
What do you think of Kingston?
“It was definitely a change from where I grew up and my home town because I think it is a lot more rural than I expected it to be, so freshman year I was kind of in a shock, but definitely over the three years I’ve been here, especially now that I moved off campus this year, I’ve grown to love and appreciate this area and I love the really tight knit community it has here, so it’s definitely grown on me.”
#1 reason someone should do engineering here?
“Everyone should definitely choose to do engineering just because of the people. Again, you have that community and that passion and I feel like everyone can find their group here and find their home.”
Random fact about you nobody would guess.
“I come from a family of engineers, so I feel like that’s a weird coincidence. My sisters, my parents, my grandparents are all engineers. I guess we just all somehow loved it.”