O-H, the places they’ll go!
On May 8, 2022, the college welcomed approximately 1,700 new alumni into the Buckeye engineering family. Meet one of the class of 2022 members who combined her passions with The Ohio State University’s offerings to engineer a transformative education.
Cleveland native Zoe Karabinus became interested in pursuing an engineering career thanks to a high school engineering course and her experiences shadowing a woman engineer at nearby NASA Glenn Research Center.
“I really enjoyed [engineering] and thought that it would be fun to pursue, and my parents certainly encouraged me to do so,” Karabinus said. “Then I came here and the more classes I took, the more I got involved, the more I fell in love with it.”
The aerospace engineering major decided to also major in aviation after her advisor told her she could earn dual degrees. After graduation she’ll utilize both skillsets as a test flight engineer with Collins Aerospace in northern Virginia, where she completed an internship last summer.
“It’s given me a different perspective on both [disciplines]. Aerospace engineering is a very technical approach to things and aviation is a much more well-rounded approach to it,” she explained. “I think having both of those has certainly opened me up to different opportunities and perspectives that I might not have had otherwise.”
The 2022 Ohio Air Mobility Symposium in April was one of those opportunities. As program coordinator, Karabinus led the planning of all aspects of the two-day event, where more than 150 attendees from industry, academia and public policy discussed how Ohio can position itself as an advanced air mobility research, testing and manufacturing hub. Ohio State President Kristina M. Johnson, Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted and retired Colonel Joseph E. Zeis, Jr. were among an impressive slate of speakers and panelists.
“I am absolutely elated with how it went,” said Karabinus, who spent nearly two years planning the 2022 symposium together with two other students. “The success of this event just goes to show how ready Ohio is to step into a leadership role in the advanced air mobility industry.”
During her time at Ohio State, Karabinus has served as a student ambassador for the Center for Aviation Studies, an undergraduate teaching assistant, and the executive board secretary for Sigma Gamma Tau, Ohio State’s Aerospace Honorary Society. She is also a certified private pilot and certified remote pilot.
“It didn't feel like it at the time, but now that it's over, [my time at Ohio State] went by really quickly and I don't think there are many things that I would have done differently,” Karabinus said. “I'm very proud of all that I've accomplished, and lucky for all the resources that were made available to me and all the support that I received along the way.”
Karabinus was one of six students who were nominated by College of Engineering leaders and advisors to be featured in a recent article. Click here to read the full article.
by Candi Clevenger, College of Engineering Communications, clevenger.87@osu.edu
