Ari Friedman Email & Phone Number

My 4 years of job and volunteer experience with children and teens of special needs has driven me to study how medical devices can be used to improve the quality of lives for those with physical and mental impairments.At the 2023 closing gala for my volunteer organization, a parent of one of the children discussed how he has used his background in mechanical and biomedical engineering to help his daughter, who suffered a traumatic brain injury, regain her mind muscle connection. I was able to visit his lab at a rehabilitation hospital and learn about how the lab is trying to assist stroke patients regain function. Observing first-hand the impact science and engineering can have on helping people motivates me to pursue a career in biomedical engineering.As a member of the highly competitive Dream Team Enginering shadowing program, I have been able to spend my first semester at the University of Florida observing and contributing to multiple ongoing biomedical engineering projects. Through this opportunity, I have been able to interact with team members, residents and doctors to observe the very start of a Liver transplant design model to allow residents and interns to practice surgery techniques.Through Dream Team Engineering, my fraternity and Disc Jockey job at UF, I have already learned to interact with adults and peers from diverse backgrounds. My distinguished communication skills that I gained are critical when communicating with patients and team members of all personalities.Alongside my communication capabilities, my innate leadership makes me a critical team member. As a captain on my high school soccer and lacrosse teams, I communicated the player’s complaints and thoughts to the coaches while still respecting their position. This experience taught me how to strengthen bonds between teammates and coaches who frequently disagreed.While holding multiple serious positions, I am still able to have an air of lightheartedness and positivity that make me a fun person to be around.