Kunika Chahal '20
Biomedical Engineering/Pre-med
Minor in Writing and Rhetoric
Kunika Chahal knew that she wanted to be a doctor from the age of six, when she dressed up as a doctor for career day at school. She discovered her love for technology and creating things while on her high school’s FTC robotics team, which gave her the opportunity to 3-D print a prosthetic hand and send it to a child in Haiti. She continued her work at Stony Brook as a Biomedical Engineering major, making 3-D coronary stents, designing medical prototypes for the hospital, and starting a sustainable menstrual pads initiative in Tanzania while studying abroad during her freshman year. “The women were in awe, and even took some of our templates to show to their friends,” Kunika said of the initiative. “We were able to make a tangible difference in that community with a simple idea. The ability to take the stress of the heavy burdens that these women carry will forever be my greatest accomplishment and I hope to take this idea around the world to help as many women as I can.”
In addition to all of her work in Biomedical Engineering, Kunika also completed a
minor in Writing and Rhetoric. “Writing has always been a passion of mine,” she said.
“It’s a nice release to be able to sit down and write a story. It’s relaxing, therapeutic
even. When I realized I had room for a minor, I jumped at the chance and it was the
best decision I have ever made. This minor has brought me close to some of the best
professors I have ever had. It pushed me to write about anything and everything. I’m
an engineering student writing plays! How fun is that? It was a minor that taught
me how to share my story, no matter what medium, and for that I’m forever grateful.
It can also be applied to the world just like engineering. I recently completed a
research paper with Dr. Peg Christoff on how women’s health is negatively affected
by climate change in rural communities, and she’s going to try and test out the solution
that I have proposed in Turkana County, Kenya when travel is safe again. Never, as
an undergraduate student did I expect to do something so revelvent and so impactful.
This minor really opened my eyes to the importance of communicating to make a difference,
and that’s what I hope to do one day!” 
Kunika has published papers about her studies in Tanzania, editing a book called 15 Secrets for Getting into Medical School: (Go to Yale without Going to Jail); worked as Secretary and Risk Management Officer for the Phi Delta Epsilon International Medical Fraternity, and as the Treasurer and Freshman Liaison for WISE Honors College. Other accolades include the NYS Scholarship for Academic Excellence, the President’s Volunteer Service Award for her work with the Hugh O’Brien Leadership Foundation, the BIO 204 TA Appreciation Award, the 2017-2018 RA Staff of the Year Award from Campus Residences, the Elizabeth D. Couey Student Life Award, the Martin Luther King, Jr., Courage Award from Siena College, and being named to the 2019 Homecoming Court. After graduation, she plans to go into the MD/MPH program at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and follow her dream to become a pediatric oncologist.
Kunika’s advice for incoming students? Get involved, both academically and socially! “Try everything the campus has to offer,” she suggests. “Academics will always be the most important thing, but don’t let four years of college go by without trying anything new. Go to that interesting looking club, talk to strangers in the SAC, apply for that research position, study abroad, and join in on that midnight scream! You just have to make sure to go out and try it all. Who knows you might find a new passion, or even make some new friends!”
While sad that she will not be on campus for Roth Regatta, Strawberry fest, or any of Stony Brook’s other fun spring activities, Kunika knows that having to stay at home will turn out for the best. “As much as I would love cherishing these events one last time, the safety of the community is so much more important, and I’m happy the administrators think so also,” she says. Her favorite memory of Stony Brook will be the people she has met and the friends she has made: “I have made forever-friends here - a family that I will always be thankful for.”