After years of unexplained fainting spells, Sofia Jalenak found answers that would ultimately shape her future career.

Violet Oliver saw firsthand how cardiac technology could bring comfort and peace of mind to a family.

Melissa Hermosillo Nava discovered her calling through the impact medical technology had on her sister Kaylee's life.

Their stories began in different places, but each eventually led them to the same destination: a Medtronic internship and a desire to help others.

Sofia Jalenak

Jalenak's experience as a patient inspired her to pursue engineering.

When Jalenak was about 8, she started experiencing symptoms that were diagnosed as syncope, or fainting spells. At first, they happened infrequently, once every six months. She and her family were told she would likely grow out of it.

But as she got older, the episodes became monthly, then weekly, and eventually three or four times each day. Symptoms would often strike during the night and frequently result in fainting.

During overnight monitoring, doctors discovered that an AV node block was causing the episodes. The condition prevents electrical signals from properly traveling through the heart, disrupting its normal rhythm.

She began seeing a pediatric cardiologist, who eventually recommended a Medtronic pacemaker. She got it implanted when she was 15 years old.

Her experience as a patient showed her how medical technology can change lives. It also sparked her curiosity about the people who design those devices.

"When I got my pacemaker, I was thrown into a space that was biomedical engineering."

Jalenak is fascinated by medicine and technology, and biomedical engineering allows her to combine her interests in both areas. Now, she studies biomedical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis.

She applied for an internship at Medtronic because she was passionate about the company.

"I want to make an impact as Medtronic has made an impact on me," she said. She joined the Cardiac Rhythm Management team, specifically within Defibrillation Solutions.

Her internship includes collecting data that could benefit algorithms used in devices like hers. She has been using AI extensively to narrow down the specific data segments she needs to study, making the analysis process much more manageable.

Jalenak thinks being a patient gives her a unique perspective. Having grown up attending cardiology appointments, Jalenak is familiar with many of the devices, apps, and software systems people talk about at Medtronic and in her coursework — giving her a unique perspective.

“I want to help others so that they can have beneficial treatment like I did,” she said. “And I think that my studies and the knowledge that I gained from my degrees will help me pursue that passion. I would be very proud of myself to be able to give back in a way that has given so much to me.”

Violet Oliver

For Oliver, engineering is personal.

She has a family history of cardiac issues on her mother’s side. Her grandmother experienced ventricular fibrillation, a serious heart rhythm disorder, and passed away after she was unable to receive treatment in time.

As a preventative measure, her mother has a Medtronic implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), device that monitors heart rhythms and can help correct dangerous abnormalities.

Oliver said the devices give her family peace of mind because they can monitor their heart information in real time on their phones.

Now, Oliver is helping develop technologies for families like hers.

"I've always felt this need to really give back to those who have helped my family in such a profound way," she said.

She became interested in biology and engineering when she was around 10. That fascination led her to become a mechanical engineering student at Georgia Tech and pursue an internship at Medtronic.

Now a two-time Medtronic intern, she most recently worked on an early-stage prototype for a technology that could support future surgeries within Cranial and Spinal Technologies. She is also developing AI tools that could support mechanical engineering work.

One of the biggest lessons she has learned is the patient-focused mindset. In contrast to studying engineering at the university where projects are opportunities to experiment, learn, and grow, at Medtronic everything is rooted in a real impact, she said.

“Whenever I'm designing something at Medtronic, I always envision who is this going to help? Could this help someone like my mother? Do I want mediocre technology for my mom, or do I want the very best? Of course I want the very best,” she said. “That shift has really helped me grow as an engineer. And it's really made me more aware of just how important it is to keep patients at the center of everything that I touch.”

For Oliver, engineering is an opportunity to help create technologies that could support patients and families facing challenges similar to hers.

“It's so cool to imagine the countless lives that I'm helping to improve through my internship,” she said. “It's a very powerful feeling and it's one that I'm very grateful to have the opportunity for.”

Melissa Hermosillo Nava

Hermosillo Nava carries her sister Kaylee's legacy into every step of her engineering journey.

Kaylee lived with several complex medical conditions, including cerebral palsy, Dandy-Walker malformation, scoliosis, sleep apnea, muscle spasms, and chronic pain. She couldn't eat independently, speak, move, or breathe easily without assistance.

Despite everything Kaylee endured, she found joy in her life.

"She was always a constant in my family's life,” she said. “As someone who went through so much pain, she would always find a way to smile for simple things."

A Medtronic intrathecal baclofen pump was implanted in her abdomen to deliver medication that helped manage her muscle spasms through a catheter.

Before the pump, her parents were responsible for administering medications and responding to medical issues at all hours. The pump gave Kaylee's family more freedom than they had experienced before.

"We were able to take her on drives a lot more and just go out to the mountains and do all those things that we couldn't do prior to having that device," she said. “It really changed our lives for the time that she had it.”

Doctors originally predicted that Kaylee might live only a few months to a year because of the severity of her conditions. Instead, she lived to be 25 years old. Those additional years were a gift they never expected to have.

Toward the end of her life, she passed peacefully at home, surrounded by family.

“She taught us a lot of lessons in life, empathy, and how we can share that with others. How do we care for people like my Kaylee and what kind of technologies do we need to help someone like her as well?”

The impact medical technology had on her family shaped the kind of engineer she wanted to become.

She decided to develop technologies that could improve quality of life for patients and caregivers, just as those technologies helped her sister and her family. She is currently a sophomore at the University of Colorado Boulder studying mechanical engineering.

Hermosillo Nava joined the Surgical Operating Unit as an intern after a mentor from her high school robotics team encouraged her to apply for the WISE internship program.

This summer, she is working on technology that could improve the experience of surgeons and operating room staff. Hermosillo Nava has used AI to quickly learn new concepts, better understand which tests to perform, and identify where to focus her efforts.

Hermosillo Nava still carries her sister's influence into her work today.

“I'm a lot more empathetic now and a lot more connected to the human side of the field,” she said. “I'm looking into how we can make this person live more comfortably or how we can help this person's family spend more time with them. I feel like my sister is with me in some way while I’m working.”

Want to make an impact while helping engineer the extraordinary? Applications for the 2027 Summer Internship Program are open through October 15, 2026. Learn more and apply here.

L003-08172026

---

Related content