Graduate Student Highlight: Ryan Szukalo
Each week, the Department of Chemistry highlights graduate students who are doing exciting work around the department. In this installment of our highlight series, we are featuring Ryan Szukalo, who is a third-year student in the Noid lab.
Ryan’s research focuses on the systematic development of low resolution or “coarse-grained” models. These models are more efficient than traditional (all-atom) computational models and can investigate chemical phenomena that take place on longer length- and time-scales than previously accessible. Ryan specifically investigates how scientists can make these coarse-grained models more accurate and applicable over a wider range of temperatures, pressures, and system compositions.
Outside of the lab, Ryan serves as the vice president of the Chemistry Graduate Student Association (GSA). He also served as the GSA’s treasurer for the past two years.
This week, we met virtually with Ryan to discuss his life in and outside of the lab! Please enjoy our interview with Ryan Szukalo.
Question: How did you get interested in chemistry?
Answer: I have loved math and science since I was a little kid, and I had many amazing science and math teachers in high school that just reaffirmed this. My interest in chemistry though actually happened by mistake. Although I enjoyed chemistry in high school, I wanted to be a medical doctor when I applied to my undergraduate programs, so I originally enrolled in biology. During my first year, I found that the courses focused on “what” was happening rather than “why.” I then transferred into a biochemistry program hoping more of the “why” questions would be answered, but I still wasn’t satisfied. Finally, I switched into a chemistry program and immediately loved the courses and subject matter. Since then, chemistry has remained a passion of mine.
Q: What inspires you as a scientist?
A: I draw my inspiration from learning fundamental truths about the world around us. I have always been more interested in fundamental research than applied science, and I hope that discoveries I make can then inform and change the way we approach various applied problems.
Q: What accomplishment are you most proud of?
A: Probably achieving my grade 10 Royal Conservatory in performance piano. I’ve played piano my entire life, and I actually attended a high school focused on music. I've had the opportunity to travel the world and perform in Europe, the US, and in Canada, so getting this final diploma was pretty special for me and brings back a lot of good memories.
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I’m originally from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Mississauga is a major suburb just west of Toronto, and, although Canada seems far, my childhood house is only about a five-hour drive from State College. Despite being a suburb, Mississauga has almost a million people in population and is thus not your typical suburb!
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
A: I already mentioned playing piano and, with that, comes a love for all music. I also love sports. Being Canadian, I absolutely played hockey my whole life, and State College is the only city I’ve lived in where I haven’t been on a hockey team. In my spare time I golf quite a bit. I also am a huge wine fan and have my level 1 Sommelier certification. So, when time permits, I love trying new wines and visiting vineyards.
Q: What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?
A: Absolutely golfing. When the weather is nice, I try my best to get outside and play a round with some friends. When the weather isn’t cooperating, I typically spend my days off playing video games with my friends back home. Being here while most of my friends are in Toronto, online video games have been an amazing way to stay connected with them and makes it easy to keep up with their lives.
Q: What’s your dream vacation?
A: I’m not too sure about this—I’d probably have to say anywhere with a beach. I love to relax on vacation and am not a big fan of sight seeing. So, right now, the ideal place would be anywhere warm where I can curl up with a good book on the waterfront and enjoy not sitting at my computer all day.
Q: If you could have dinner with anybody (living or dead), who would it be and why?
A: If I could have dinner with anybody it would be Lebron James. He’s my favorite basketball player and I think the best player of all time, so I would love to be able to sit and chat. I don’t particularly want to even talk about basketball; I’m much more interested in hearing about his life! I’m not sure what we would eat, but I know he’s a huge wine fan like me, so I’d hope we could drink some interesting wines.
Thanks to Ryan for these excellent and thoughtful answers! We hope you enjoyed this interview. Stay tuned for more graduate student highlights in the weeks to come!