Biomedical Engineering Student Recognized as IEEE’s ‘New Face of Engineering’

WASHINGTON (17 March 2009) — Guruprasad Madhavan is working on neuromuscular stimulation approaches that may help prevent osteoporosis, heart failure and mild cognitive impairment — all related to low blood pressure.

Madhavan’s research is a major reason why he was selected the IEEE/IEEE-USA’s 2009 “New Face of Engineering.”

“My energy to perform better has multiplied, and so has my responsibility to better communicate engineering,” Madhavan said after being selected.  

The New Faces of Engineering is sponsored by the National Engineers Week Foundation, a coalition of engineering societies, major corporations and government agencies. The program highlights the vitality, diversity and rich contributions of engineers under 30.

Each engineering society’s top choice must hold an engineering degree, be employed as an engineer from two to five years, and have worked with projects that significantly affect public welfare or further professional development and growth.

Madhavan is one of 14 engineers recognized for this international honor. They were featured in a full-page ad that ran in USA Today on 16 February.

Madhavan, 29, is completing his doctoral degree in biomedical engineering at Binghamton University, State University of New York. His research is focused toward non-invasively and non-pharmacologically stimulating the calf muscle pump — also referred to as the “second heart” — to enhance circulation.

The contractions of calf muscles help in propelling deoxygenated blood back to the heart against gravity. External stimulation of the lower leg musculature could help enhance venous return and cardiovascular recirculation of oxygen-rich blood.

Madhavan was born in a village in Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India. He became the first person in his family’s history to earn an engineering degree when he received his bachelor’s (honors with distinction) in instrumentation and control engineering from the University of Madras (India) in 2001. He added a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Stony Brook (N.Y.) University in 2002 and an MBA in leadership and healthcare management from Binghamton in 2007. He has also worked in the medical device industry as a research scientist.

In November 2007, Madhavan became the first person in the United States to receive the United Kingdom’s Institute of Engineering and Technology’s Mike Sargeant Career Achievement Award. The honor is given to the young professional deemed to have made the most significant career progress over a number of years. Madhavan, who received the award in London, was recognized for his medical device research.

Last fall Madhavan was selected for a science, technology and economic policy fellowship at the National Academies in Washington. He believes that this experience has helped prepare him for a career in public policy related to economic development and sustainability issues.  Madhavan is also senior editor of “Career Development in Bioengineering and Biotechnology” (Springer, 2008), a volume designed to introduce students, professionals and the public to the diverse career and sustainable-development opportunities within bioengineering, biotechnology and related fields.

An ad hoc committee of IEEE members Paul Kostek of Seattle; Sarah Rovito of Arlington, Va.; Abby Vogel of Atlanta; and Terry Malkinson of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, selected Madhavan as the IEEE/IEEE-USA’s New Face.

The committee’s other top choices are at http://www.eweek.org/site/Engineers/newfaces2009/IEEE.shtml.
 
For more on all the 2009 “New Faces” honorees, go to http://www.eweek.org/site/Engineers/newfaces2009/index.shtml

IEEE-USA IN ACTION: $3,000 IN HONORARIA PRESENTED TO TWO JOURNALISTS WHO HAVE ADDED TO PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF ENGINEERING

For the first time, IEEE-USA has awarded two $1,500 honoraria to recognize print and electronic journalists who have added to a greater public understanding of the contributions of engineering and computer professionals to society.  

The two award winners were recognized by 2008 IEEE-USA President Russell Lefevre at the organization’s annual meeting in Salt Lake City on 28 February: Alan Boyle, science editor of MSNBC.com, for his series of articles on future engineering challenges; and John Dodge, editor-in-chief of DESIGN NEWS, for his series of articles on key new technologies in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Past award recipients have included NPR’s Richard Harris (1991); the CHICAGO TRIBUNE’s Jon Van (1993); THE WALL STREET JOURNAL’s  G. Pascal Zachary (1998); and Jon Katz, for his book, “Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho” (2000).

To see articles written by the 2008 IEEE-USA journalism award winners, go to: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16545946; and http://www.designnews.com/blog/Design_engineering_at_large/205-Boeing_s_787_Dreamliner_aims_to_improve_flying.php

STEM Workforce Researcher Honored by IEEE-USA for Furthering Engineering Professionalism  

WASHINGTON (1 April 2009) — Richard A. Ellis of Carlisle, Pa., was recently honored by IEEE-USA with an Award for Distinguished Literary Contributions Furthering Engineering Professionalism.

Ellis, a consulting sociologist who owns Ellis Research Services, has for more than 25 years made “substantial and sustained contributions that have significantly improved the understanding of science and engineering labor markets by professionals and public policymakers.”

Ellis specializes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) statistical research and analysis. His areas of expertise include STEM employment, enrollments and degrees, compensation and workforce trends.

“Dick’s work has been essential in assessing the job market for engineers in the United States,” former IEEE-USA President Paul Kostek said. “Over the past 25-plus years he has spent more time and energy than anyone trying to understand the engineering job market. He has provided the data and unbiased analysis of the marketplace.”

Ellis, who served as director of research for the American Association of Engineering Societies’ Engineering Workforce Commission from 1985-1996, has also conducted research for IEEE-USA, the American Chemical Society (ACS), the Society of Women Engineers, the United Engineering Foundation and the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology (CPST).

Ellis served CPST as designer and principal analyst for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation-funded IT and STEM Workforce Data Projects. The STEM project, which includes nine reports, white papers and links to detailed statistical tabulations, resulted in demographic information on more than 50 STEM occupations. He was lead author on six of the reports between June 2004 and October 2007, including the most recent, “Is U.S. Science and Technology Adrift?”

For more on the projects see http://206.67.48.105/STEM_Report.cfm and http://www.cpst.org/ITWF_Highlight.htm.

Ellis developed the original versions of IEEE-USA’s online Salary Calculator and ACS’ Salary Comparator, pioneering the use of regression modeling to provide multi-variable compensation benchmarking for individual technical professionals. His most recent assignment for IEEE-USA was to produce graphic displays of 21st century workforce trends. He serves as a resource member of the IEEE-USA Career & Workforce Policy Committee.

IEEE-USA’s awards program is administered under its Awards and Recognition Committee and approved by the IEEE-USA Board of Directors. The nomination deadline for 2009 awards is 31 July 2009. For additional information, go to www.ieeeusa.org/volunteers/committees/awards or contact Sandra Kim at sandra.kim@ieee.org.