ME Hall of Fame
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The 2008 inductee into the Mechanical Engineering Hall of Fame was Dr. Savio Woo.
| Dr. Savio Woo Director, Pittsburgh Musculoskeletal Research Center |
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At the 1998 Winter Olympics, Dr. Savio Woo received the first gold medal of the games, not for athletic prowess but for his extraordinary contributions to the science of sports medicine. He is the second of only four scientists so honored with this special medal by the International Olympic Committee. Woo received his MS and PhD degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington and was a pioneer in bioengineering research during the birthing of the discipline. His landmark research on the biomechanics of the knee and healing of ligament injuries prompted orthopedic surgeons to abandon weeks or months of cast immobilization that traditionally followed surgery. Woo showed that rehabilitation with controlled movement and exercise speeds healing from devastating injuries, and he used robotics to develop better surgical procedures for both world-class athletes and all sports lovers.
Woo founded and directs the University of Pittsburgh Musculoskeletal Research Center, a multidisciplinary enterprise where engineers, biologists, physicians, and surgeons work together. He also holds the prestigious title University Professor of Bioengineering. His research teams are now tackling ligament healing on the molecular and cellular levels through functional tissue engineering. He is the rare scientist who is a member of both the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering. For his work, Woo has been recognized by many professional societies including the Bioengineering Division of ASME, the Institute of Medicine, and Academia Sinica (Taiwan)
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