The Countrywide Academy of Engineering (NAE) has announced that two MIT professors have been jointly awarded the Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Instruction, the most prestigious engineering schooling award in the United States.
Linda G. Griffith, the School of Engineering Professor of Educating Innovation in the Section of Organic Engineering, and Douglas A. Lauffenburger, the Ford Professor of Organic Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Biology, had been acknowledged for their respective contributions to “the establishment of a new biology-dependent engineering instruction, creating a new era of leaders capable of addressing entire world difficulties with impressive organic systems,” in accordance to an NAE statement.
“We are unquestionably delighted that professors Griffith and Lauffenburger obtained this prestigious prize from the NAE,” says Angela Belcher, head of the Office of Biological Engineering. “Anyone who is aware of Doug Lauffenburger and Linda Griffith understands that educating and mentoring in engineering, notably biological engineering, is at the core of who they are.”
Griffith and Lauffenburger spearheaded the institution of the organic engineering self-discipline at MIT, which revolves close to educating college students how to translate improvements in the molecular life sciences into therapeutics, and a variety of non-clinical goods in agriculture, materials, strength, and nutrition.
“Professor Griffith and Professor Lauffenburger have produced incredible contributions to training in organic engineering,” says Anantha P. Chandrakasan, dean of the MIT University of Engineering and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Laptop Science. “They have the two been fundamental in setting up and shaping the organic engineering curriculum at MIT, and carry on to encourage present-day and former college students in this house.”
Griffith championed the organic engineering BS diploma software, while Lauffenburger focused his endeavours on the graduate degree. College students who have participated in the curriculum have long gone on to identified ground breaking startups, these kinds of as Gingko Bioworks.
“The award is genuinely in recognition of the energy of MIT learners to make transform,” states Griffith. “The creation of a new self-control of engineering was a whole lot of energy, but it was done in partnership with college students who were courageous more than enough to envision what could be.”
In addition to her achievements in education and learning, Griffith directs the Center for Gynepathology Investigation and has championed novel ways in tissue engineering. She is also responsible for establishing the discipline of physiomimetics.
She retains more than a dozen patents, has in excess of 200 publications, and has chaired many scientific conferences, which include the yearly TED convention-like Open up Endoscopy Discussion board that assembles gynecology scientists, surgeons, and engineers at MIT for a weekend of talks.
Lauffenburger is affiliated with many biomedical organizations including the Center for Gynepathology Analysis, Heart for Biomedical Engineering, and Koch Institute for Integrative Most cancers Study at MIT. He is a previous chair and present fellow of the University of Fellows of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
Both equally Griffith and Lauffenburger hope that their achievements at MIT will assistance propel organic engineering forward on a world degree.
“The world desires biology-dependent systems to tackle a broad spectrum of important difficulties that have not been satisfactorily satisfied by physics- and chemistry-based systems,” suggests Lauffenburger. “Our aspiration, and expectation, is that what we have created right here will catalyze adoption of biology-dependent engineering at numerous other institutions globally in the coming many years.”
Set up in 2001, the Gordon Prize involves a hard cash award of $500,000, of which Griffith and Lauffenburger will obtain half. The other 50 percent will go to help organic engineering training efforts at MIT. Griffith and Lauffenburger will also just about every obtain a gold-plated, sterling silver medal and a hand-scribed certification.