Mitchell Hornak, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, discovered the thrill of innovation early from working on cars with his father, also a mechanical engineer, and creating things with Legos.
At Masuk High School in Monroe, Connecticut, Hornak joined the robotics program. Before moving from Legos to actual robots, Hornak says he had been considering becoming a computer programmer, but his focus quickly shifted.
“I decided to dip my toe into that and got completely sucked into it,” Hornak says. Hornak became the captain of Masuk High School Robotics and led his team to place in the top 50 in the world in 2018.
Hornak is now cultivating his interest in innovation through a variety of programs available to him at UConn.
As a freshman last year, Hornak was excited to discover the makerspace in the Learning Community Innovation Zone. The makerspace allows students…
