Graduate Student Highlight: Seong Ik (Sonic) Cheon
Each week, the Department of Chemistry highlights graduate students who are doing great work around the department. In this installment of our highlight series, we are featuring Seong Ik (Sonic) Cheon, who is a fourth year student in the Zarzar group.
Sonic’s research revolves around putting nano-microparticles at various liquid interfaces. He studies this because learning about interfaces can have significant applications for producing cosmetics, food, pharmaceuticals, and even energy. Many products that people use everyday contain some type of stabilizer and are commonly stabilized by chemical surfactants. One of the lesser-known stabilizers uses nano/micro particles; compared to surfactants, it’s less toxic and a stronger stabilizer. By studying particles’ unique behavior at interfaces, Sonic hopes to create functional particle-stabilized emulsions and utilize them for applications as a dynamic soft material.
Outside of the lab, Sonic is part of the Chemistry Graduate Student Association (GSA) board, where he serves as the outreach chair. He is also a member of the Penn State jazz combo.
This week, we met virtually with Sonic to discuss his life in and outside of the lab! Please enjoy our interview with Sonic Cheon.
Question: How did you get interested in chemistry?
Answer: I got interested in chemistry early on in high school, where I had one exuberant teacher who had a knack for flashy demos. One of my favorite memories of this teacher is when she blew a methane fireball that proceeded to explore our classroom. I’m not really sure if that’s something that can be repeated nowadays, but seeing that as a kid made me fascinated about learning chemistry.
Q: What inspires you as a scientist?
A: One of the main inspirations is the quest for understanding our natural world. It excites me so much when I discover something in the lab; it makes me think about what I can use this knowledge for.
Q: What accomplishment are you most proud of?
A: One of my most proud accomplishments is the work I have done as a graduate student here. I have developed so much as a person and as a scientist, and, although there were hardships and road blocks, I’m very happy where I am.
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I grew up in two places: back in Korea and in Fairfax Virginia. I don’t have as many memories from Korea, but I fondly remember all the incredible food I used to eat there. The rest of my childhood was in Fairfax, Virginia, which is part of “NOVA” (Northern Virginia), and it is basically a big suburb filled with kids whose parents work for the government (it is really close to DC).
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
A: I have too many! I have three main hobbies/passions: community outreach, playing saxophone, and cooking! I have been actively participating in community outreach since high school and have not stopped since. Similarly, I started playing the saxophone in high school, and, when I came to graduate school, I never stopped. Thanks to the support of my teachers, I have improved significantly since coming to Penn State, and I hope to do a recital before I graduate. Once I learned that cooking meals is much cheaper and healthier than eating out, I have been cooking many of my meals since. It also helps that cooking applies the concept of chemistry, and I sometimes geek out over certain cooking techniques and concepts.
Q: What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?
A: My favorite way is to relax by watching TV or learning a new recipe! With the weather getting warmer, I can’t wait to go outside and go hiking or go on walks.
Q: What’s your dream vacation?
A: My dream vacation has to be some sort of food tour. It is one of my goals in life to eat at a Michelin-starred restaurant, and there’s one in Italy called Osteria Francescana that has THREE. I would love to just spend a month exploring various regional cuisines around Europe and maybe learn how to cook some of them. There’s also the “Chef” food tour that starts in Miami and goes across America ending up at Los Angeles while hitting up various food places.
Q: If you could have dinner with anybody (living or dead), who would it be and why?
A: This is a tough question since one dinner feels too short to interact meaningfully with anyone I can think of. I would just rather have a good time with people I care about. How about eating at Osteria Francescana with my friends? I would go for their 12-course tasting menu (with the wine pairing of course).
Thanks to Sonic for these excellent and thoughtful answers! We hope you enjoyed this interview. Stay tuned for more graduate student highlights in the weeks to come!