Not many students have the opportunity to see a major advancement in society, but senior Matthew Cox has seen an extraordinary miracle that may change the medical world.

This summer, Cox had the privilege of going to the Houston Texas Heart Institute to learn from the teachings of Alex Smith, who holds a PhD in Medical Engineering and has been awarded with the Michael E. DeBakey Scholar and the Student Scholar. During his time at the Institute, Cox learned about artificial hearts and transplants.

“The fact of the matter is that they’re simulating whole parts of the human body by using what essentially is tubing you could buy at a hardware store,” Cox said.

Though Cox’s goals in life do not include going into the medical field, he said he still considers the possibility of impacting the field in some way.

“I don’t have any current direct interest in the medical field, though it would be interesting to see if I can indirectly influence it from whatever I do,” he said.

While at the Institute, Cox was able to study with other Americans, as well as those from a variety of different countries.

“I was very impressed with the diversity that they had there,” Cox said. “They had kids from Australia, kids from many places in Europe, and actually a few from Japan.”

According to Cox, he learned many things during his time at the Institute that he thinks others should know as well.

“It’s best to try to deal with failure not by stopping but by continuing to improve on what you’re done,” Cox said.