Second-year student works to advance medical technology and campus outreach
Adolphus Addison has tackled various research, community engagement and leadership roles
“There is no point of waiting to be an upperclassman to try to take on a leadership role.”
These are the words of self-given advice that have guided University of Cincinnati student Adolphus Addison — advice that he also hopes to extend towards fellow young engineers. Now in his second year studying biomedical engineering in UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science, Addison has already amassed an impressive list of accomplishments.
Adolphus Addison
After learning about genetically modified “designer babies” while participating in a speech and debate tournament in high school, Addison became fascinated by the impact of biomedical innovation. For his high school capstone, Addison researched tissue engineered vascular grafts. The project, which showcased spinning vascular grafts to simulate common sports-related tearing of tendons such as the ACL or MCL, further set him on his goal towards becoming a biomedical engineer.
“I’ve played sports all of my life, and I’ve seen firsthand the vital connection that trainers and doctors have to the abilities of our bodies,” Addison said. “I wanted to combine those experiences of seeing — and dealing with — injuries and pain to give back to the next generation.”
Adolphus Addison presents an LSAMP project poster with CEAS Inclusive Excellence and Community Engagement Program Manager Don Wittrock.
While the top-ranked cooperative education (co-op) program was certainly a factor in why Addison chose UC, he also credits the extracurricular involvement and career-readiness opportunities that CEAS provides as a major catalyst for his decision. In fact, Addison began his involvement with UC before his first year of college even began.
“The summer before my first year, I enrolled in the Summer Bridge program through the IECE (Inclusive Excellence and Community Engagement) office at CEAS. It was a bit of a gamble for me since it was my last summer before college, but it was well worth it,” he said. “Through Summer Bridge, I was able to apply for the LSAMP (Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation) and Choose Ohio First Scholarships, and of course, make so many connections.”
Adolphus Addison with CEAS Tribunal colleagues Deborah Cole-Taylor (left), and Oscar Cronin (center).
Addison’s experiences with the Summer Bridge program led him to accept an internship offer with CEAS Tribunal, the college’s student government, during his first year. Working under the Tribunal chair of diversity, equity and inclusion for two semesters, Addison collaborated with various offices such as IECE and UC’s LGBTQ+ center to ensure accommodations for students of minority and disadvantaged backgrounds. Following his internship, Addison stepped into the role of chair for the summer semester. This created what Addison describes as a “butterfly effect” where he continued to expand the connections and experiences that he was making.
After earning academic honors in his first year, Addison was accepted into the Protégé Undergraduate Research program, where he was able to work with his LSAMP mentor John Martin, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, in UC’s Bioresponsive Materials Lab. He also utilized some of the connections that he made during his time with the Summer Bridge program, such as Cedrick Kwuimy, associate professor, to join the UC chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), eventually becoming part of its executive board in just his second year. Going to the national NSBE conference again this year, Addison hopes to serve an even bigger role with the organization in time.
“Talking to people can be easy at times, but figuring out how to actually engage them is another story,” Addison said. “Through my time with NSBE, I’ve learned how impactful partnerships can be, whether they’re with communities or individual people. The first NBSE conference I went to, I made over 200 LinkedIn connections, which was crazy. If it wasn’t for the help of those around me, I wouldn’t be where I’m at. We can all be a resource for each other to give us all better opportunities.”
Adolphus Addison with fellow LSAMP student Colin Kimuli.
Currently, Addison is partaking in a research co-op with UC Health, where he is a part of the cardiovascular unit working under Professor Christy Holland. His project involves characterizing prototype drugs. Alongside his co-op research, he is also auditing a graduate level biomedical engineering course taught by Holland. His current work involves a lot of coding, creating medical protocols from scratch, and physics, which he initially found to be challenging. However, Addison has always seen challenges as situations to gain and grow from.
"When I first came to UC, I hadn't taken physics yet because I was infatuated by my psychology, chemistry, and life sciences courses in high school." Addison said. “Taking collegiate-level physics in my freshman year was really hard for me. However, through talking with my classmates and finding study groups, I gained a ton of friends. The support I received from others was really impactful -- whether something is difficult or easy, I’ve been lucky to have a community that has allowed me to learn from all of my experiences.”
You won't know what you like unless you try it. Test the waters and go get involved.
Adolphus Addison, UC College of Engineering and Applied Science
While his first two years have already been jam-packed with life-changing personal, academic, and professional experiences, Addison is looking forward to his future time with UC and beyond, as he aspires to attend medical school after graduation. As he reflects upon his journey, he hopes to serve as a beacon of inspiration to remind others that they can do whatever they set out to do.
Adolphus Addison celebrates winning the Outstanding First Year Student award with Dr. Whitney Gaskins of the CEAS IECE office.
“I remember how proud I felt when I won the Outstanding First Year student award from IECE. I tried so hard and took classes and did things I never thought I would do, both good and bad,” Addison said. “The main thing is, I learned from it all – you won’t know what you like unless you try it. Test the waters and go and get involved. It’s never too late to grow, as long as we don’t take our time for granted.”
Featured image at top: UC College of Engineering and Applied Science student Adolphus Addison has adopted a leadership role at UC. Pictured is UC's Mantei Center. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand
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