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HELLO, I'M

Elderson Mercado Rivera.

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Student

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Elderson Mercado

BS in Mechanical Engineering.

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

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About

About

MY BACKGROUND

My name is Elderson Mercado Rivera. Currently, I am pursuing a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Among my future plans as an undergraduate student, I aspire to acquire more research and industry opportunities that can further enhance my skillset and experience in my field of study. Eventually, I would like to do a Ph.D. and work within the aerospace industry. Aside from enjoying science and math, I also like to spend my free time reading, playing the piano and writing songs; music and literature play an important role in my life as well.

Education & Experience

Education

WHAT I’VE LEARNED

2018–Present

University of Puerto Rico– Mayagüez, PR; 

Bachelor of Engineering; Mechanical Engineering

GPA: 4.0/4.0

2015–2018

Patria Latorre Ramirez High School, San Sebastian, PR Class of 2018

Class Valedictorian

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*Click on the links attached to the images for more information.*

Experience

WHERE I’VE WORKED

August 2019 - Present

Research Assistant in the following projects:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Thermal Cycling Rig Design for High Heat-Flux Environment in Ox-rich Turbopump mentored by Dr. Zachary Cordero (June 2022-December 2022) [Click here]

Stanford University

  • Remaining Useful Life (RUL) Prediction of Turbofan Engines Through Machine Learning mentored by Dr. Xiaolin Zheng (June 2021-August 2021) [Click here]

Penn State University

  • Identifying the best two-dimensional channel material for the reinstatement of complexity scaling in floating gate FETs mentored by Dr. Saptarshi Das (June 2020-August 2020) [Click here]

University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez

  • Low Melting Point Metallic Suspension Nano-composite PCM as a Thermal Management Solution for More-Electric Systems mentored by Dr. Pedro Quintero (August 2020-Present)

  • Phase Changing Materials (PCMs) for Electronic Cooling mentored by Dr. Pedro Quintero (August 2019-May 2020)

January - May 2022

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

  • Rotorcraft Aeromechanics Intern at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) in Moffett Field, CA.

May 2019 - June 2020

RUM-Air Aero Design Team (Advanced Class Division and Project Management Department) [Click here for article]

[Click here for official winners' announcement]

September 2018 - May 2019

NASA RASC-AL UPRM Team [Click here]

Skills & Languages

WHAT I BRING TO THE TABLE

Proficiency in SolidWorks, Siemens NX 12, and Fusion 360

Proficiency in AutoCAD LT, MATLAB, Python and Arduino

Speech and Communication Abilities

Content Writing and Editing

Project Management

English

Spanish

Skills & Languages
Awards & Interests

Awards

Undergraduate Poster Presentation winner in the Engineering category at SACNAS NDiSTEM Conference (2023) [Click here]

 

Dominion Energy’s Hispanic Higher Education Initiative Scholarship Fund Recipient (2023) [Click here]

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HACE’s Dr. Ervin “Vinny” Caraballo Scholarship Recipient (2023) [Click here]

 

Boston Scientific Scholarship Recipient (2022)

 

Great Minds in STEM (GMiS) Scholarship (2022) [Click here]

 

Andrés Calderón Scholarship (2022) [Click here]

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The Boeing Company Scholarship (2021, 2023)

 

Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) Scholar (2021-Present)

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Evertec Scholarship (2021-Present) 

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First Place at the SAE Aero Design Competition - Advanced Class (2020)

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First Place at the NASA RASC-AL Competition (2019)

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Lockheed Martin Scholarship (2019)

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E-PEARLS Scholarship (2018-Present)

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Medal of the Governor (2018)

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Rafael Carrion, Jr. Academic Excellence Award (2018)

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Extracurricular Activities

UPRM Research Fair Logistics Member

Space Workforce 2030

The Leadership Alliance SR-EIP

NASA's Aero Fair 2022

"Come Colegial" Volunteer

National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS) member

American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) member

National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS) member

Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) member

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