Alex Britton

Looking for a university that brought together STEM and baseball, he says choosing Embry-Riddle was a no-brainer. The student-athlete is a mechanical engineering major with a focus on biomedical systems. What drew him to this path was a desire to help people with math and science.

He learned in class about technology that detected cognitive function in pilots, which led him to begin considering how the same systems could be applied to concussion research, specifically in athletes.

Britton and his team of two other students were recently given the opportunity to work with StarterStudio, a nonprofit that assists tech startups and gives entrepreneurs resources to aid their development.

“It was an awesome program because that was advice from industry experts that I could have never gotten from anywhere else,” he said.

Britton’s motivation behind the project is the younger generation of athletes. He wants them to be more aware of the severity of concussions and protect them from the consequences. From abnormal aggression to severe depression, the effects of brain damage are not to be taken lightly.

What does he say is the most rewarding part of his research so far?

“The support from my teammates, my family, my friends … the support that other people are giving, like: ‘wow, you really got this,’ or ‘you seem like you're doing something great,’ ... that means something. In my head it's not anything yet, but to them it means something. So it's pretty huge.”