Recent Events


  • We are happy to announce that Mr. Robert Miller, was recently awarded an ARCS Foundation Scholar Award. As a 1st year scholar, Mr. Miller will receive $15,000 in support, payable over three years at $5000 per year. Dr. Rich Debski serves as his advisor at the MSRC in the Department of Bioengineering. His research is in the area of bone biomechanics. The award receipients were formally introduced at the annual reception of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the ARCS on September 13, 2011.

  • On July 15th and 16th, 45 faculty and students of the Engineering Research Center - Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials (ERC-RMB) from North Carolina A&T, University of Cincinnati,, and University of Pittsburgh got together in Pittsburgh for the very first ERC workshop on Magnesium(Mg)-Based Screw Projects. The workshop was initiated by Dr. Savio Woo to tackle the challenges that the research groups in Engineering System-1: Orthopaedic and Maxillofacial Applications are facing in coordinating the research plans for years 4 and 5 based on the year-3 site visit by NSF, the ERC's funding government agency. Nine organizers from the three institutions put together a program that consisted of seven sessions on topics ranging from clinical requirements to commercialization and intellectual property management. There was ample discussion between the participants and the workshop proved essential to foster collaboration between the ERC research groups in the development of more effective Mg-based screw projects.


    Dr. Woo moderating Q&A after Dr. Matteo Tei's presentation on clincial requirements in Session 1

    At the end of the first day of the workshop, all attendees gathered at Dr. Woo's beautiful residence in Fox Chapel for a dinner social. Rounds of volleyball were played by faculties and students. Richly marinated ribs and steak (thanks to Mrs. Woo) with spicy lamb chops (thanks to Dr. and Mrs. Shroff of Pitt Bioengineering) were enjoyed by all.


    Dr. Woo is commanding a legion of engineers to set up the volleyball net at the dinner social hosted by Dr. and Mrs. Woo


  • Dr. Savio Woo, on the occasion of his 70th birthday, was honored at the 2011 ASME Summer Bioengineering Conference at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Farmington, PA on June 22-25 for his lifetime achievements in bioengineering. Drs. Jennifer Wayne and David Vorp put together a special symposium to highlight the four major areas of Dr. Woo's career contribution: Tissue Mechanics, Robotics to Analyze Joint Stability, Modeling of Tendons & Ligaments as well as Functional Tissue Engineering for Healing of Tendons and Ligaments.


    Dr. and Mrs. Woo

    There were 4 two-hour sessions organized by his friends, colleagues and former trainees. Each session began with a keynote lecture to be followed with 5 presentations. There was also a special video greeting from Dr. and Mrs. Y-C. Fung and Dr. Shu Chien, prepared by Dr. Peter Chen.

    After the symposia, about 80 of Dr. Woo's students, fellows and good friends gathered at the nearby Christian W. Klay Winery to celebrate his 70th Birthday. Attendees were treated with tasting of local wines and hors d'oeuvres. There was also a series of toasts and congratulatory remarks made by Drs. Zong-Ming Li, Matthew Fisher, Harvey Borovetz, David Butler, Sanjeev Shroff, Cy Frank, T.K. Hung, Bob Nerem, Al Banes, Kai-Nan An and Rui Liang. Afterwards, Dr. Woo thanked everyone involved in these two wonderful events and the many accolades. He vowed to work harder so that he could become the quality educator, caring mentor, role model and treasured friend that everyone has so generously bestowed on him!

    Dr. and Mrs. Woo were very touched by the large number of colleagues, fellows and students who came from all over the world to celebrate Dr. Woo's 70th Birthday with them.

  • Nick Drury, Benjamin Ellis, Jeffery Weiss, Patrick McMahon and Richard Debski received the prestigious 2010 ASME Richard Skalak Award for the Best Paper Published in the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering for their paper entitled " The Impact of Glenoid Labrum Thickness and Modulus on Labrum and Glenohumeral Capsule Function" at the ASME Summer Bioengineering Conference at Nemacolin's Resort June 22-25, 2011.

  • Three MSRC students participated in the Student Paper Competition at the ASME Summer Bioengineering Conference at Nemacolin's Resort June 22-25, 2011.

    • Mr. Kelvin Luu won 3rd Place in the BS level Student Paper Competition (Mentor: Dr. Debski) for "Collagen Fiber Alignment and Maximum Principal Strain in the Glenohumeral Capsule Predict Location of Failure During Uniaxial Extension"
    • Dr. Carrie Voycheck was a finalist for the PhD Level Student Paper Competition (Mentor: Dr. Debski) for "Changes in Capsule Function Following Anterior Dislocation Elucidate the Need for Standardized Clinical Exams to Diagnose Shoulder Instability"
    • Mr. Andrew Feola was a finalist for the PhD Level Student Paper Competition (Mentor: Dr. Abramowitch) for "Characterizing the Ex-Vivo Mechanical Properties and Corresponding In-Vivo Impact of Synthetic Urogynecological Meshes"

  • In May 2011, William Barone was awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRF). The NSF GRF provides three years of support to graduate students obtaining advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Mr. Barone is pursuing a doctoral degree from the Department of Bioengineering under Dr. Steve Abramowitch at the MSRC. He is interested in characterization of soft biological tissues through mechanical testing and constitutive modeling to understand the relationship between tissue structure, composition, and mechanical function. Research interests include mechanisms of preterm labor and pelvic organ prolapse.


    • William Barone

  • On May 1, 2011, Matthew Fisher and Carrie Voycheck received their doctoral degrees at the University of Pittsburgh's Commencement Convocation. Matt studied under Dr. Woo in the ACL group while Carrie studied under Dr. Richard Debski in the Shoulder group.


    • Carrie, Dr. Woo and Matt

  • On April 12, 2011, Dr. Savio Woo, had the honor to deliver the Inaugural Lecture for the Professors Albert Kobayashi and Jim Morrison Endowed Lectureship in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington (UW). Both Professors Kobayashi and Morrison had very long and distinguished careers and are leaders of their department. Between 1965 and 1970, Dr. Woo was a graduate student at UW mentored by Professor Kobayashi.