"Community engagement has always been important to me, whether it's working in my local community back home or here in Lewisburg. It's always been part of who I am."

Like most aspiring engineers, Aiden Cherniske '27 grew up building LEGOs and playing Nintendo games. Long before he came to Bucknell, he felt drawn to computer engineering, computer science and electrical engineering. Now a computer engineering student at Bucknell, he's diving into his lifelong passions for hardware and software, while also sharing them with others through community engagement.

Cherniske first visited Bucknell through the Bucknell Academy Student Experience, a week-long program that invites high schoolers to attend Bucknell classes and live in residence halls. "It gave me a really great perspective of what it would be like to live on Bucknell's campus," he says. "I got to interact with professors who really care about students and want to engage with them. There is so much support here."

That supportive environment has allowed Cherniske to explore his major beyond the classroom. He conducts research with Professor Stewart Thomas, electrical & computer engineering, to connect computer keyboards to old Nintendo games so they can be played without risking damage to the original controllers. "I've formed a personal relationship with my adviser; he understands what my interests are," says Cherniske.

Outside of academics, Cherniske is part of Bucknell's Community Engagement Scholars Program and a recipient of its $20,000 annual scholarship, which is awarded to students who exhibited exceptional community leadership and engagement in high school and make a commitment to continuing similar work while at Bucknell.

"The program introduces you to all sorts of ways to be involved in the Lewisburg community," says Cherniske, who volunteers at the Lewisburg Children's Museum during STEM Saturdays. The program encourages kids from the local community to explore the world of science, technology, engineering and math. Cherniske uses his computer engineering skills to inspire and educate kids through hands-on robotics activities.

"I built and coded a simple robot — just a base with wheels — but it really got the kids' attention," he says. "Just being able to have that for them and show them, very simply, how it works is something I'd like to keep building on."

Cherniske knows from experience how impactful that early exposure can be. As a child, he learned about coding and robotics through his own local library's programming, which he later volunteered for in high school. He says he's grateful for the opportunity to continue to pass down that love of learning.

"Community Engagement Scholars has been a really special program to be able to give back to the community," he says. "Community engagement has always been important to me, whether it's working in my local area back home in Kent, Conn., or here in Lewisburg. It's always been part of who I am, and it's why I'm so thankful for the scholarship."

Cherniske has also connected with the Donald Heiter Community Center in Lewisburg, where he helps run a LEGO robotics program for middle school students. "It's always so fun to see how creative the kids can be," says Cherniske. The students begin with base projects, such as building a helicopter or carousel, and then they experiment with seeing how fast they can make it turn without breaking, or how tall they can make it without it falling over. One group even asked how they could make the helicopter ADA-accessible. 

"Seeing them develop those problem-solving skills is the greatest part," Cherniske says. "That's what I'm so happy about. Thinking in that way is something that's so important in STEM."