Born and raised in Guangzhou, China, Aaron (aka Shengshu Lin) was homeschooled from K-12 before he joined Baylor University in 2020. At Baylor, he worked under the mentorship of Prof. Daniel Romo on the total synthesis of dammarane-type triterpenoids, and he played on the club soccer team for Baylor. After receiving his B.A. in University Scholars and Chemistry with Honors in 2024, he joined the Sarlah group at Rice University to work on total synthesis projects. Outside of lab, Aaron enjoys playing soccer/FIFA, piano, and laser-cutting chemistry niches. Aaron once dreamed about becoming a film director but now he’s directing chemical molecules.