Like many college students, Xander Neuwirth tested out the waters in a variety of different classes to determine the right major for him.

“I started off thinking I might want to be a biomedical engineer and even took a couple of classes from that track,” said Neuwirth. “That changed pretty quickly, though—not because I don’t want to get involved in the medical field, but because all the evidence seems to indicate AI will be instrumental in the future of medicine and almost every other aspect of life. That’s when I decided on computer science.”

The shift from biomedical engineering to computer science was a natural shift for Neuwirth. “MSOE is building a world-class undergraduate AI program, the professors are incredible, and the curriculum is set up to put us right at the forefront of the most disruptive and fascinating field in science and technology.”

Neuwirth was initially drawn to MSOE because of the ability to get to know professors, the honors program and, most importantly, the culture.

“At a school where nearly everyone is an engineer, there’s a unity that a lot of my friends at other colleges haven’t been able to experience. You can walk up to almost anyone, mention some nerd thing, and have an awesome conversation. That’s a pretty neat thing that I didn’t even fully appreciate until I started classes,” said Neuwirth.

Neuwirth continuously dives into the MSOE culture by engaging with multiple campus groups. He participates in Chess Club for casual Thursday matches, is an active member of The Point of Grace campus ministry and plays trumpet in the concert band. Through the honors program, Neuwirth is currently designing a park that will be constructed in a nearby low-income neighborhood.

Neuwirth puts his coursework into practice at his internship at Direct Supply, a company that specializes in providing equipment, e-commerce and service solutions to the senior living industry. As a software engineer intern on the research and development team, Neuwirth works on Direct Supply’s e-commerce app and builds backend API infrastructure. Neuwirth assists his team members with a variety of software projects and gets to learn along the way.

“I’m encouraged to struggle, learn, research and ask questions of the software engineers on my team,” said Neuwirth. “It’s a challenging and rewarding position and I’ve learned more about this field than I would have thought possible.”