Sydney Swedick was recently awarded the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, earning her a full scholarship to the prestigious University of Cambridge in England.
The 21-year-old Johnstown native, who is currently a senior studying biomedical engineering at the University at Buffalo, said being awarded the scholarship came as a shock.
“I was definitely ecstatic when I found out,” said Swedick. “I didn’t really believe that I had won it, I kind of reread the email over, and over, and over again that I had actually gotten it. I called my parents and my family and friends to let them all know.”
The Gates Cambridge Scholarship gives selected students from around the world a full-cost scholarship and expense stipend to attend the University of Cambridge — the No. 2 university in the world, according to the QS World University Rankings, only trailing Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It also has a history of producing some of the brightest minds throughout history, including scientists from Isaac Newton to Stephen Hawking.
Swedick will be spending the next three years at the University of Cambridge pursuing her PhD in clinical neurosciences.
“What I will be doing there is developing this device in the bioelectronics lab,” Swedick said. “This device is going to contain both flexible electronics and tissue with regenerative medicine, which is something I currently do in my lab at the University at Buffalo. So combining tissue and electronics to create a device to restore sensory perception after peripheral nerve injuries.”
A person who has had a peripheral nerve injury not only loses motor function, but they also lose the ability to sense things, Swedick said. The lab has been able to use this method to restore movement, and Swedick said her work will help to restore sensation as well.
“It’s very exciting work,” Swedick said.
Swedick said she has always wanted to be an engineer. Her grandfather was an electrical engineer at General Electric, her older brother is a computer engineer, and her father works in construction. Swedick said she has always loved helping her dad build things and fiddling with computers with her brother. She said that she has also always enjoyed puzzles, and taking things apart and putting them together.
Swedick’s health also helped to guide her educational path. When she was 12, she had anterior-posterior spinal fusion surgery because of severe scoliosis. She said her spine was so severely curved it was crushing her lungs. She said that having the surgery at only 12 stunted her growth.
“I had two titanium rods and 11 screws put into my spine,” Swedick said. “The recovery takes years, and I had to relearn how to walk. I did lots and lots of physical therapy. Later, I was diagnosed with severe Graves’ Disease and Thyroid Eye Disease, which are autoimmune diseases, and I had multiple surgeries for those.”
She said she is amazed by the technology that has come along with spinal surgeries, and how that technology has developed over time, which got her interested in neural space and rehabilitation.
Swedick gets her hard work ethic from her parents and her four siblings, she said.
“My parents always told us there’s nothing we can’t do as long as we work hard for it,” Swedick said. “Kind of the motto was ‘Work hard and you can achieve whatever you want to do.’ I kind of took that and ran with it. I also really enjoy what I do, I think I would be really bored without it. Even when I go home for breaks, my parents like to joke that I constantly have to stay busy because I just really, really like what I do. I’ve always got that urge to keep doing what I’m doing.”
Swedick is the first University at Buffalo student to win the award since 2016, according to Megan Stewart, director of UB’s Office of Fellowships and Scholarships.
“Sydney amazes me at everything she does, and winning the Gates Cambridge is a testament to her exceptional academic and leadership potential, and demonstrated commitment to improving the lives of others,” said Stewart in a statement.
The Gates Cambridge Scholarship is not Swedick’s first major academic award. She previously won a Goldwater scholarship, which is considered the most prestigious and competitive research scholarship offered for undergraduate STEM students.
She was also selected for the All-USA Academic Team while attending SUNY Schenectady. Swedick was one of 20 community college students in the country to receive this award. She also received the 2022 New Century Transfer Scholar Award, for which she was the top applicant in New York state. That award is given to community college students demonstrating intellect and leadership. She was also one of 15 students selected for the Johns Hopkins University Amgen Scholar U.S. Program and was one of only six in the nation to conduct research through the HEART/SHURP MD/PhD summer internship program at Harvard Medical School.