Welcome to S3E05 – FOOD! In today’s episode, we speak with 4 incredible Duke students and one of Duke’s Student Health Dietitians to uncover the secrets held in a student’s relationship with food. We learn about how to plan out healthy meals, what to look for in a good snack, and where to go for more help and advice for special dietary circumstances. Additionally, we hear from freshmen students about how COVID has affected their personal eating habits, especially for those with allergies and eating restrictions. Finally, we tune into a senior’s perspective, exploring different cooking tips and tricks, and even discussing some alternative diets. We can’t wait for you to listen in to our second-to-last episode of the season!
View Additional Resources
Duke Nutrition Services: https://studentaffairs.duke.edu/studenthealth/nutrition-services
Dietitian Toni Apadula’s Email: toni.apadula@duke.edu
Episode Contributors
This week’s episode of This Engineering Life is a return to one of our favorite things: FOOD! We’re so lucky to speak with four incredible Duke students as well as one of Duke’s Student Health Dietitians.

Toni Ann Apadula, RDN, LDN, CEDRD – Dietitian and Eating Disorder Specialist
Toni Apadula is a Student Health Dietitian in Duke’s Wellness Center. In today’s episode, she addresses some of the most asked questions regarding maintaining a healthy relationship with food. We learn about how to plan out healthy meals, what to look for in a good snack, and where to go for more help and advice for special dietary circumstances. Thanks for speaking with us Toni!

Reyna Vrbensky – Freshman Mechanical Engineer (ME)
Reyna enjoys reading, painting, and creating whatever she can. A graduated from South River High School, Reyna was the President of the FIRST Robotics Team. She is very passionate about community outreach, started projects to tutor Special Education children using Lego robotics, and provided 3D-printed prosthetics to kids in need. Reyna is currently studying Mechanical Engineering and wishes to use her education to help others and give back to her community.

Jack Rhodes – Freshman Electrical and Computer Engineer (ECE)
Jack is from Purcellville, VA and graduated from both Loudoun Valley High School and the Academies of Loudoun. In his free time, Jack enjoys 3D printing, learning languages, baking, and watching all kinds of movies – new and old. He has plans to pursue a Masters of Engineering in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Along the way, Jack hopes to design and implement some of his own technology targeted towards international community development (He’d also love to have a patent in my name one day!).

Caroline Rozzo – Freshman Biomedical Engineer (BME)
Caroline is from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida where she enjoys the outdoors, scuba diving, and going to the beach. She loves to bake and create new dessert recipes. Through biomedical engineering and the continued study of Spanish language and culture, Caroline plans to develop accessible medical technologies to solve global health challenges. Today she shares her
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Nick Schiciano – Senior Biomedical Engineer (BME)
Nick is currently a senior at Duke University studying Biomedical Engineering. He plans to continue his education through Duke’s 4+1 Masters of Engineering Program. In today’s episode, Nick shares some of what he’s learned as a food-loving student living off-campus. We explore different cooking tips and tricks, and even discuss some alternative diets. Listen in to hear more!