Congratulations to BME student, Aaron Johnston, who was selected for an Attribute of a Gator Engineer Award for Professional Excellence. The Gator Engineering Attribute Awards are intended to provide an ideal guide for all members of the Gator Engineering community, this is considered the greatest distinction of any student award given by the college. The Professional Excellence Award is described as technically competent, skilled in management and planning, problem-solving and scientifically insightful. Awards are bestowed upon the undergraduate students and graduate students who best represent each quality. The award honors five undergraduate and five Ph.D. students who strongly model one of the five Gator Engineering Attributes; Creativity, Leadership, Integrity, Professional Excellence and Service to the Global Community.

Aaron Johnston, a fourth-year UF BME undergraduate student, is in the process of building a startup company with several other BME classmates. The company, which is a cooperation of local doctors and entrepreneurs as well as the business college, is patenting new types of orthaepedic devices. Aaron also works at AxoGen as a Quality Engineering intern and used to work as a volunteer at UF Health Shands Hospital and in Dr. Blanka Sharma’s lab studying cell multipotency. In his down time, Aaron enjoys traveling, fishing and four-wheel trail driving. In the future, Aaron intends to get a Masters in BME from UF with the 4/1 program and a Masters of Entrepreneurship. 

Established in 2010 as part of the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering’s centennial celebration, the Attributes of a Gator Engineer embody the college’s expectations of all students and faculty. This year’s recipients will be officially recognized first during the Faculty and Student Awards Luncheon on April 21, 2016 and during the New Student Convocation in August 2016.

Congratulations, Aaron!