April 06, 2025

Senior Keegan Hartnett reflects on his experience with Mizzou’s culture of learning and discovery. Learn more about his time on campus and post-graduation plans once he’s equipped with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering.

Keegan Hartnett, a senior in biomedical engineering from Peoria, Illinois, spends his mornings serving fresh food to students when he’s not preparing to become a clinical engineer.

Now, he’s weeks away from graduating with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering.

 “Mizzou Engineering has developed me into a strong professional who is confident in their skills in my field of study,” he said. “This program has given me the knowledge and confidence to enter the workforce.”

Hartnett’s experience at Mizzou has led him to meet interesting people and work on creative projects. Learn more about his experience on campus and what he plans to do next.

I have always wanted to go into the medical field.

During my freshman year of high school, I joined the FIRST Robotics team with my buddies and immediately fell in love. I became a 3D modeling team lead and during my senior year got picked to be the driver of the team, where I really found my passion for teamwork and innovation. I decided to fuse medicine with robotics and decided on biomedical engineering.

I really like that the professors do not shy away from the difficulty of the topics we cover.

I have found that most teachers dive into hard topics that they know students will struggle with but are fair in their assessments of student abilities. This creates a culture that makes students more excited to dive deeper into their field of study.

The group projects in engineering coursework have really been fun. I loved working on creating the pulse oximeter in Electronic Instrumentation and creating a device that was the culmination of everything we had learned that semester.

I mostly got involved on campus through various jobs I have held during my time here.

I started as an employee at Campus Dining Services, where I worked my way to student manager before starting work at Panda Express as a back-of-house manager. Now, I spend every morning serving fresh food to students through my business, The Melt Masters.

After graduation I hope to start in clinical engineering.

In this field, I’ll work with patients to meet unique needs. I want to work with a team to help innovate unique problems and develop my skill set so I can move up in the industry.

I am proud to be a Tiger.

This University has helped shape me into the person I am today, professionally and personally. I would’ve never guessed that I would have the experiences or friends that I have today when I first came here. Calling myself a Tiger is a proud reflection on who I have become.

Earn a degree while gaining life-changing experiences. Choose Mizzou Biomedical Engineering!