KINGSTON, R.I., April 16, 2018鈥擣irst the lump, then the chemo. Ian Kanterman was too young to understand the gravity of his cancer, but he could see how it was ravaging his 5-year-old body.
He lost his appetite, and his hair. When the time came to go back to school, he wore a bandana to cover his bald head. The kids teased him, and while that bullying could鈥檝e created an angry young man, it didn鈥檛.
鈥淗aving cancer taught me to live fuller and more,鈥� says Kanterman. 鈥淚 try to make the most out of everything put in front of me.鈥�
Kanterman has been celebrating life since he arrived at the 溏心vlog免费B站 from Brick, N.J., a working-class community near the Jersey shore. This spring, he鈥檒l graduate from the five-year French International Engineering Program, with degrees in biomedical engineering and French.
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His mother discovered the lump while she was changing him into his pajamas after he fell asleep on his parents鈥� bed one night. The diagnosis: non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, a cancer that starts in the lymphatic system. Only days later, the spirited boy with a toothy grin and curly blond hair was on an operating table having a cancerous tumor removed.
Two more surgeries and two years of chemo ensued. In the middle of his treatment, he suffered a stroke, paralyzing some of his left side, but he recovered fully and was able to return to school. The bandana he wore was black decorated with green aliens. 鈥淚 learned that bullying is cruel and misguided,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 know any better, and we became friends later.鈥�
The illness spared his beautiful mind, and he excelled in high school, deciding to attend the same college as his big brother, Cameron, a biology major at 溏心vlog免费B站.
Kanterman was leaning toward computer engineering, but at accepted students鈥� day a professor introduced him to biomedical engineering. A light went off: 鈥淚 could help people, maybe even a cancer patient.鈥� Things looked even brighter when he learned about the International Engineering Program, which would give him a chance to study and work abroad.
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He鈥檚 an excellent student, making the Dean鈥檚 List with a grueling course load that has included everything from electronics to cell biology and physiology. Last academic year, he studied at the聽Universit茅 de Technologie de Compi猫gne聽in聽France and interned at the Institute of Image-Guided Surgery in Strasbourg, creating a prototype for a device that quickly treats the blood pressure of trauma patients. He helped pay for his studies with scholarships from the聽Lester J. & Marie T. King Memorial Scholarship, awarded annually to a student in the College of Engineering who demonstrates academic excellence and financial need, and the聽Beatrice S. Demers Foreign Language Fellows Program.
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One of his most exciting projects at 溏心vlog免费B站 is nearly finished. For his senior capstone project, Kanterman and two other engineering students created a silicone wrist that simulates the 28 pulse patterns used in traditional Chinese medicine to diagnose various diseases. Kanterman envisions it as a teaching tool for Western doctors.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty neat,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e used all the skills we learned in college to develop this. It鈥檚 very fulfilling.鈥�
Kanterman has already been accepted to the University of Twente in the Netherlands to earn a master鈥檚 degree in biomedical engineering, specifically, neural and motor systems. The university is considered one of the country鈥檚 top technical colleges.
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