Hello! My name is Amelie Turmel, and I am from Media, PA. I am a freshman bioengineering student in the Swanson School of Engineering and the Frederick Honors College at the University of Pittsburgh. I am minoring in Applied Statistic and planning on focusing on the cellular engineering track. This summer, I am teaching in a leadership camp for youth in New Mexico, before setting off on week long backpacking trip. I love to travel, and I have been to 11 countries, including Nepal last year, where I spent 5 days trekking through the Annapurna mountains. I’ve been fortunate to go on study abroad in high school, studying French for three weeks in Belgium.

A few fun facts about me are that I love to read, and I am an eagle scout. I’ve played the violin for 9 years, and the cello for 2. One of my life long goals is to be fluent in French, as my dad is from France, and I have the PA Seal of Biliteracy in French. Here at Pitt, I am in the French Club so that I can practice speaking French with other students. Both of my parents are engineers, and I grew up knowing that I wanted to be like them, becoming an engineer. This was backed by my love of math and physics.

I’m excited to have been given the chance to explore a new country and go to Spain and Bilbao with the Plus 3 program! I have always been interested in healthcare, and how I can work to improve how patients are being treated. I am looking forward to seeing how the healthcare system works in Spain, and what we can bring back the United States so that we can improve our system. I believe that by going on this program, I will be able to improve in both my academic and professional career, as I will be able to get a good understanding on how the medical industry functions in getting medical devices approved, and the process for innovating these devices. It is an amazing opportunity to see how different kinds of jobs, like nursing and engineering, can function together to bring an essential product together. By going on this program, I will work with other students, who don’t have the same background as I do in engineering, and learn how to collaborate in a way that will be most beneficial to us and to others.