Student Council President, St. Pat’s Knight, KMNR radio DJ, Honors College member, IEEE HKN honor society member, Psi Chi honor society member, double majoring in computer science and psychology, minoring in bioinformatics and earning an undergraduate certificate in neuroscience, served on the College of Arts, Sciences, and Education Student Advisory Board, was a resident assistant in his residence hall, working in two  laboratories on campus, and youngest member of an S&T team that advanced to the semi-finals of the Global Health Innovation Grand Challenge.

The above list is just some of what you can find on Aiden Pickett’s resume. In his “free time,” he plays guitar, writes poetry for a book he plans to self-publish, and listens to neuroscience-focused podcasts.

A junior from O’Fallon, Missouri, Pickett seems to have found several extra hours in the day. He says that he focuses on always having a creative outlet, too, no matter what he is doing.

“My advice to any new student coming to Missouri S&T is that there are tons of opportunities on campus, but you have to seek them out,” says Pickett. “You have to try to be involved with what you are interested in, because lab job experiences, research collaborations, and leadership opportunities will not come to you by chance.”

Pickett has worked as a research assistant in Dr. Amy Belfi and Dr. Daniel Shank’s psychology laboratories, and Dr. Casey Canfield’s systems engineering laboratory, focusing on explainable artificial intelligence for kidney transplants. This work is right in line for his future, as Pickett hopes to one day work as a neurodiagnostic technologist and conduct brain research.

“I got interested in the field in high school, when I would listen to psychology podcasts while completing homework,” says Pickett. “I took an advanced placement psych class with a guest lecturer who was really interesting, too – and that all contributed to a slow-burn interest that took hold of me.”

His slow-burn interest is already paying dividends, as he was selected by faculty to be a part of a team that competed at the Global Health Innovation Grand Challenge hosted by the Carle Illinois College of Medicine in Urbana. The team competed in the sub-category “Slowing or Reversing Disease Progression in Aging Populations” and the team developed “OsteoInjex,” a new biomaterial to treat osteoarthritis.

“I chose S&T initially because it was close to home and offered me good scholarships,” says Pickett. “But I am so grateful to have found a lot of opportunities to grow and learn while here in Rolla.”