Aiden Walter Connects Minds Through Research, Mentorship

Much like tissue enables movement of the knee by connecting two structures, mentorship enables movement of the mind by connecting two scholars. Senior Aiden Walter understands these movements better than anyone, serving as both a mentor and a mentee throughout his collegiate experience and academic research.

Walter, a biomedical engineering major, earned the Undergraduate Student Award for Outstanding Research from the Society For Biomaterials for his summer 2025 research through the Young Scholar Summer Research Program at University of Colorado Boulder, where he learned from the guidance of a faculty mentor.

Walter focused on the synthesis and characterization of different resin formations, with the ultimate goal of developing a biocomposite or 3D-printed scaffold infilled with hydrogels to be implanted into the knee. The hydrogels are designed to promote cell proliferation and chondrogenesis — articular cartilage regeneration — providing an alternative to knee replacement surgeries.

"That was my first-ever research experience," Walter said. "Being in that environment really let me learn the procedures, the physical laboratory skills, but also how to think like a researcher, how to set up the different experiments, how to ask the correct questions, and how to tackle solving them."

Walter developed three resin types and two blends to investigate the impact of network structure and network chemistry on macrophage response. He also created procedures and a reference database for the lab to use in future work.

Walter and his mentor wrote a manuscript from his findings, and, in addition to being invited back to University of Colorado Boulder this summer to continue the project, Walter was accepted to present at the Society For Biomaterials annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

"I got to see a bunch of different research being done internationally," Walter said. "Being able to integrate into this international sphere where I can learn from people from other countries and they can learn from me as well is really interesting. It supports the idea that research…should be for the improvement of humanity."

"Improvement of humanity" is a lesson he has taken to heart and applies outside of research as well. As a Noblitt Scholar, Walter has continued to strengthen his leadership through mentorship, serving on the STEM Outreach Committee as well as an assistant in the Noblitt Scholars Program office. He also provides support and understanding to younger students, helping them to understand the career options available to them, as the vice president of the Biomedical Engineering Society.

Walter also strives to improve the lives of his peers through his role as an Aizu mentor buddy. Each year, Rose-Hulman welcomes students from the University of Aizu in Aizuwakamatsu, Japan, to Terre Haute for a few weeks at the beginning of spring quarter. The students take courses in English and computer science while experiencing typical "American college life" alongside a Rose-Hulman student "buddy" and mentor. Both the Aizu students and the Rose-Hulman students share aspects of their culture, including food, crafts, and activities, throughout the experience.

"I've enjoyed being able to make those connections across different cultures and meet people with different perspectives in life," said Walter, noting that his original interest in the program was piqued because he was teaching himself Japanese.

"Being able to see the students come out of their shell…being able to witness that change is really, really meaningful to me because I'm making a difference for these people and improving their skills, but I'm also able to create those connections between us."

Walter knows firsthand how overwhelming it can feel to enter a country without fluently speaking its primary language. He took the Rose-Hulman Japanese Society course, studying Japanese culture on campus before a faculty-led excursion to Japan over spring break.

"I think having that perspective is really crucial," said Walter. "Seeing it in reverse, when the other students are here…I've been able to proceed with a greater amount of understanding or empathy."

Embodying empathy in all that he does has helped Walter master the might of mentorship, helping him connect to scholars across cultures, campuses, and generations to enact meaningful change both in laboratory learning and extracurricular experience.