Featured Student: Ilya Whitaker
Major (College): Biomedical Engineering (CEAS)
Additional Honors and Scholarship Communities: ACCEND
Post-Graduation Plan: Completing a master’s degree in biomedical engineering
Advice to Current UHP Students: “Follow your passions wherever they lead. Often, the moments that feel the most intimidating are exactly the ones worth jumping into.”
Graduation Year: 2026
Experiences:
- Protege research program
- Refuge in Cincinnati: The Evolution of Slavic Culture Amidst War
- Exploring Cultural Immersion in a Journey Through Uzbekistan
- Returning to the Roots: Cooking for Healing
I leave UC feeling not only prepared professionally, but also confident in my ability to contribute meaningfully to the world around me.
Ilya Whitaker UHP Graduate, 2026
Ilya's UHP Journey
Ilya Whitaker felt at home on UC’s campus from his very first tour as a high-school student—but his involvement in the UHP took him in personal and professional directions he had never imagined.
Whitaker, a Biomedical Engineering major, began his UHP journey by participating in the Protégé research program. “I entered the program as a wide-eyed freshman with little understanding of the research world,” he recalls, “and left with a much stronger foundation in scientific thinking, communication, and confidence in my abilities.” Whitaker’s summer of research marked the beginning of his interest in tissue engineering, a passion he has followed into graduate study, but it was his later self-designed experience interviewing Ukrainian refugees in Cincinnati that “not only broadened my perspective but also opened unexpected doors in [his] life,” connecting him to a subsequent co-op at Procter & Gamble.
“Stepping into a field far outside of my biomedical engineering training pushed me well outside my comfort zone and forced me to confront a lot of impostor syndrome,” Whitaker says. Whitaker sees that confidence as being just as great an asset as the technical skillset he’s honed in the lab; he knows that “a willingness to step outside my comfort zone in pursuit of curiosity and growth” can take him far.
