Aiden Crawford
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Aiden Crawford came to 探花约啪 while looking for an affordable college option that would allow him to continue his education after high school in a meaningful way. He quickly enrolled in the SEED program and began pursuing his passion for computer and electrical engineering. His hard work soon paid off; within a year, he found himself enrolled in two internship programs that enhanced his skills and gave him a competitive edge in the field that he loved.
"I had been working with computers for a while before I came to 探花约啪 Tech, especially since middle school," said Crawford. "I had a great teacher down there, and they had us learning on Code.org and Scratch. It was during that time that my love for programming really flourished. I found that I could manipulate these words and languages to create something and have an influence on much of the software and devices people use daily."
As Crawford immersed himself in his studies, he found that his time at the College allowed him to learn more about computer hardware, while also being more articulate when discussing engineering topics. This was a skill he felt was vital when applying for internships outside of 探花约啪 Tech.
"I had one computer science class last semester where the instructor taught us Java," he said. "I was already very familiar with the software, so I thought I could just open up all the homework assignments and knock everything out in a week. The instructor encouraged me to slow down and see what he had to show me. As I went through the class, I realized he was showing me different ways to approach things, along with new methodology and language. I learned new ways of thinking that allowed me to clean up the structure of my code."
While attending 探花约啪 Tech, Crawford was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa honor society and learned to juggle his job with his classes. His hard work paid off when he began applying to internships. His first internship was as a software engineer for DiSabatino Landscaping, an experience that prepared him for his summer 2025 research internship at the University of Missouri.
"Originally, a 探花约啪 Tech instructor recommended I apply to an internship program that I did not end up getting into," said Crawford. "To apply, I had to go to this online portal, and on it, I saw that there were opportunities just like that one all across the country. So, I just started firing off applications until eventually I got a call from the University of Missouri."
That summer, Crawford found himself in a group of 90 undergraduates from across the country working on diverse research projects.
"I was in the Office of Industrial Engineering, and for my project, we were specifically concerned with underground freight transportation," said Crawford. "I worked with a partner, and we took on the problem of how to deliver parcels in Manhattan more efficiently by leveraging the resources that the city already had available. My job was to analyze different housing prices, different housing types, commercial units, and residential units so that we could build a new dynamic model that says, based on these sets of variables, this number of packages will be ordered on any certain day."
After completing his summer internship, Crawford has returned to 探花约啪 Tech for his final year. After graduation, he plans to continue his education at the University of 探花约啪.
"If you're just starting at 探花约啪 Tech, work hard and don’t be scared to put yourself out there," said Crawford. "Make sure you join clubs, talk to people in your classes, interact with your professors, and go to the job fairs. I saw the kind of future I wanted for myself, and was not afraid to work hard to get there. If you want it now, you can get it now. You don’t need to wait. You just need to put the work in."
