{"id":43429,"date":"2011-07-01T13:40:37","date_gmt":"2011-07-01T17:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=43429"},"modified":"2012-06-19T16:17:19","modified_gmt":"2012-06-19T20:17:19","slug":"sooklall-engineers-a-move-from-waterbury-to-storrs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2011\/07\/sooklall-engineers-a-move-from-waterbury-to-storrs\/","title":{"rendered":"Sooklall Engineers a Move from Waterbury to Storrs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jerry<\/a>
Jerry Sooklall \u201915 (ENG). (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A biomedical engineering major transitioning from UConn\u2019s Waterbury campus to Storrs this fall is intent on changing the world.<\/p>\n

The long-term goal of Jerry Sooklall \u201915 (ENG), who earned a UConn Presidential Scholarship, is to design a prosthetic that incorporates the nervous system so that it functions like a natural limb.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome prosthetics already connect to the brain but, for example, only two or three fingers move,\u201d Sooklall says. \u201cI want to invent a prosthetic that acts like a real hand. It will take research, testing how the nervous system works and finding a light enough material for the brain to move. I believe this is a way of not only changing the world but helping people in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sooklall\u2019s motivation for invention is his grandfather, whose leg was cut off at the knee from gangrene, resulting in hospitalization for most of his life. \u201cThat triggered something\u2014maybe subliminally \u2014in me, but it just came to me that I like engineering, and biology is fascinating,\u201d \u00a0he says. \u201cSo studying biomedical engineering is a way I can help people not miss out on life and help disabled people not be profiled as different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in Guyana, Sooklall lived there until he was 3 years old. He earned a certificate in computer-aided drafting and design at Kaynor Technical High School \u00a0in Waterbury and was student council \u00a0president. The class valedictorian, Sooklall focused his graduation speech on a co-ed teen leadership class he characterized as the best part of high school. \u201cA \u00a0lot of kids carry a lot of burdens,\u201d Sooklall says. \u201cWe agreed that \u2018what\u2019s said in this classroom stays in here,\u2019 which helped people open up, accept each other\u2019s flaws, and connect. We poured ourselves into that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also poured himself into making a decision regarding where to continue his education. \u201cI had to choose between four other schools, and UConn seemed best,\u201d Sooklall says.<\/p>\n

Accepted to the Storrs campus within the School of Engineering, Sooklall began his studies at the regional campus because he thought it would be less stressful. He also eased his transition by participating in the Student Support Services program, six weeks of summer school designed to acquaint incoming students with University coursework. \u201cI earned seven credits and got an idea of how to manage the workload and myself,\u201d Sooklall says. \u201cI\u2019ve seen a lot of kids not doing what they\u2019re supposed to do, playing pool instead of getting down to it. I know I can play pool afterwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his turbocharged ambitions, having time management under control is a necessity. \u201cI want to see new places and study biomedical engineering abroad my junior year, which is offered in Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand,\u201d Sooklall says.<\/p>\n

He then plans to apply to UConn\u2019s five-year biomedical engineering BS and MS degree program and work in an internship along the way.<\/p>\n

But first\u2014\u201cI really want to join the student Biomedical Engineering Society,\u201d Sooklall says. \u201cI\u2019m all excited to be coming to Storrs.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inspired by his grandfather\u2019s illness, Sooklall hopes to design a prosthetic that incorporates the nervous system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":43605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[73],"class_list":["post-43429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-31 22:09:44","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43429"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61671,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43429\/revisions\/61671"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/43605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43429"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=43429"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=43429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}