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CEC Alumni Impact: Aaron Crookes '16

Miami CEC alumnus Aaron Crookes '16 is co-founder and CEO of Apricity Robotics, a future-focused robotics firm committed to alleviating the sonographer shortage.

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Aaron Crookes '16 stands in front of a sign for his company, Apricity Robotics
Miami CEC alumnus Aaron Crookes '16 is co-founder of CEO of Apricity Robotics. Above, Aaron is pictured on the left with Laura McLaughlin Reese, Apricity Clinical Product Manager.
Student Success

CEC Alumni Impact: Aaron Crookes '16

Miami CEC alumnus Aaron Crookes '16 is co-founder of CEO of Apricity Robotics. Above, Aaron is pictured on the left with Laura McLaughlin Reese, Apricity Clinical Product Manager.
Published •

Miami CEC alumnus Aaron Crookes '16 is co-founder and CEO of CEO of Apricity Robotics. Apricity is committed to alleviating the sonographer shortage by combining AI robotics with remote sonographer supervision to deliver high-quality, on-demand ultrasound imaging. 

As a participant of the National Science Foundation iCorps accelerator, Aaron and his team at Apricity Robotics have spent the last few months conducting over 100 interviews with physicians, hospital administrators, and nurses working today. Empowered with this information, Aaron and his team are moving forward in their commitment and urgency to address the challenges and opportunities in the healthcare space, with a particular emphasis in needs related to healthcare's sonographer shortage.

Below, read what Aaron had to say about the importance of an engineering education, his experience at Miami CEC, and his advice for the next generation of emerging engineers.

 

How has your Miami CEC education prepared you for your career?

Miami CEC gave me the ability to think about a problem from angles, understanding that there is more than one correct solution to a problem. Through Miami, I understood that diverse teams who work collaboratively together are often the best suited to handle challenging and complex engineering questions. I take this mindset into my career, looking to complement my teams with diverse thought and experience. 

What is your vision for the future of Apricity Robotics?

Apricity Robotics is approaching healthcare with a new mindset, and we have the potential to transform how healthcare is delivered all over the world. Our focus is on developing point-of-care robotics which can virtually teleport any medical expert from their home location to anywhere in the world. So much of complex and specialized healthcare today has to be performed in the large, urban hospitals with multiple parking garages and towers full of patients. Seeking care in those facilities is a burden on a lot of patients who aren't located nearby or don't have access to long-distance transportation or time off work. Apricity Robotics aims to transform how patients receive their specialized care by bringing access to their medical teams closer to their homes and even inside of their homes. 

 

What has an engineering education taught you about problem solving?

An engineering education has shown me that engineering is just problem-solving hard problems. An engineering education teaches you how to learn the necessary information quickly to make informed decisions, and is hugely applicable outside of someone's major. Regardless of what engineering major someone is, as an engineer, it is very possible to break into any other type of engineering or field for that matter. I don't have a formal business education, but thanks to how my engineering education taught me to think and problem solve, I was able to learn how to start a business, build AI robots, and acquire investment. I believe it is the engineering mindset that makes that all possible. 

 

What do you think it is important for the next generation of engineers to know?

It's important to continue to think critically and creatively. What defines an excellent engineer is someone who isn't afraid to brainstorm and think about new ways to solve old problems. Just because something hasn't been done before doesn't mean it's not worth doing. Maybe it works out, maybe it doesn't. Regardless, you've learned something that will inspire that next solution and the one after that. 

 

You can learn more about Aaron and Apricity Robotics by visiting their website.

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Department of Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering , College of Engineering and Computing