Skip to main content
Portrait of Cameron Mercer

Honor Society® member

Cameron Mercer

  • Pennsylvania State University
  • Biomedical Engineering - Focus: Biomaterials
  • Class of 2017
  • Columbia, Maryland

Member since June 2015

About

My main goal has always been to study human regeneration. After finishing up homeschooling for my high school education, I attending the local community college, Howard County Community College with a major in Pre-Med, thinking it was the path to research regenerative medicine. I recognized the need to a more specialized education, and I left my community college freshman year with a GPA of 3.9 to attend Penn State University Harrisburg where I got achieved a 3.9 GPA by the end of my sophomore year. I changed my major to biomedical engineering with a bio-materials focus after learning there were opportunities for regenerative medicine in this field, and that is where I am currently in this academic pursuit. While human regeneration has long been my primary aim, I am very comfortable investing in any field where I believe it would greatly benefit mankind.

Education

  • The Pennsylvania State University

    Biomedical Engineering

    2014 – 2017

Honors and awards

  • National Physical Fitness Award

    Awarded for scoring above the 50th percentile on various fitness tests.

Goals and interests

Career goal

After receiving my PhD. in regenerative medicine, I intend to pursue a research position where I will study, of course, regeneration.

Graduate school interests

After getting my undergraduate in Biomedical Engineering from Penn State, I intend to pursue my PhD. in regenerative medicines. One field that is very interesting to me is the 3D printing of tissues to help people who need replacement organs, such as hearts, arms, etc, as well as to study and research the effects of drugs and medical procedures without endangering humans.

Outside the classroom

I have a number of hobbies and interests. I enjoy studying languages and learning about how individual languages work as well as how language as a whole functions grammatically and historically, that is how language as changed over time.

I also spend much of my time cooking, researching recipes, and trying to get a deeper understanding of what composes my food. With this understanding, I like to do experiments on various forms of cooking, especially bread baking, take note of the results, wonder how they can be applied, and experiment some more.

As I find myself very busy with classes and walking more and more, I often pass the time by listening to podcasts. Not surprisingly, I listen to podcasts that discuss languages as well as culinary podcasts, my favorite being America's Test Kitchen Radio. Educational podcasts such as one by the American Microbiome Institute, Stuff You Should know, and the AAAS Magazine also are regular favorites. I also utilize podcasts as a way to listen to sermons, some of which personal friends have uploaded.

While an oddity, a wintertime hobby of mine is to experiment with thermogenesis. This usually consists of walking around campus while temperatures are in the single digits wearing jeans and t-shirt, taking note of my comfort level, alertness, and changes in tolerance. I've heard some wild health claims about wearing ice packs, but even so I do wonder what discoveries have yet to be made in this field of research. I like to read research articles on the topic and see if their results match up with mine.

The Navigators, a Christian ministry, has been a big part of my life since Sophomore year of high school. I attend many of their events where we are engaged in deep discussion, logical debate, and genuine friendships.

Volunteering

  • General Volunteer

    NavYouth

    Jun 2014 – Aug 2014

Languages

  • Spanish Intermediate

Additional information