Pacific Standard has named Matt Gaidica ‘10 one of the Thirty Under 30 Top Young Thinkers in Economics, Education, and Political Science. Gaidica is currently a doctoral student in the Neuroscience department at the University of Michigan.

“Neuroscience is still young,” said Gaidica to Pacific Standard. “And in need of wildly interdisciplinary thinkers and doers. The brain is this giant black box, and with only a few clues we are asked to address the mysteries of neurological diseases.”

Gaidica graduated from Kettering in 2010 with a degree in Electrical Engineering before moving to Mountain View, California where he worked on education-based startup applications. After working diligently in Silicon Valley, Gaidica’s interested shifted from computer applications to the brain as he desired to use his engineering knowledge and skills for a greater good.

Gaidica’s neuroscience research focuses on Deep Brain Stimulation, which entails placing an electrode into a patient’s brain and firing small electrical pulses to control the disabling effects of late-stage Parkinson’s Disease.

“There’s a pattern out there for everything. It’s not just luck, it’s not just randomness that everything in this world happens. It’s really just a matter of figuring out the pattern,” said Gaidica to Pacific Standard.  

Gaidica is the latest Kettering University graduate to be recognized on similar lists. Brian Olatunji '05 and Amanda Godward '05 were named to the Crain's Detroit Business '20 in their 20s' lists in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Steven Bardocz '99 and Robby Dhillon '05 were named to the DBusiness Magazine '30 in their 30s' list in 2014. Dr. Cleamon Moorer '99 was named to the Crain's Detroit Business '40 under 40' list in 2014.