60^th IBSIS-RMBS
the joint
60^th International Biomedical Sciences Instrumentation Symposium
&
60^th Rocky Mountain Bioengineering Symposium

Devon Sullivan, an avid bike professional athlete, spinal cord injury survivor and veteran designer of competitive sports bicycles will be sharing his professional and personal experiences at the 60th RMBS Conference Presidential Annual Banquet Dinner. Devon's passion for bicycles started at the age of 6 years old. Ever since, he immersed himself in bike riding at various capacities as a professional rider and designer for the world cup racing development. His professional engineering experience spans over four decades from R&D to manufacturing of bicycles.
Devon unfortunately suffered his spinal cord and brain injuries in 2001 participating in rocky mountain bicycles competition that resulted in wheel chair bound lifestyle. But his perseverance and untiring hard work helped to relearn walking and motor skills resuming his elite riding after one year. His passion for professional bike riding extended to down-hill mountain ride. Unfortunately, he suffered construction related carbon monoxide leak accident in 2004 resulting in severe traumatic brain injury with speech impairment. Again, his neuro-psychological speech rehabilitation coupled with his persistence helped to regain his muscle motor skills. During this time period, he completed his undergraduate degree in engineering while fighting to recover from the brain injury. Devon then moved to the design of bicycle suspension for leading bike manufacturers and continued to ride at an elite level with sponsored athletes. In 2018, he suffered another spinal cord injury from motocross impact resulting in partial upper paralysis. He was operated for the spinal cord nerve decompression with the total disc replacement. Again, Devon recovered with the support of biomedical science coupled with perseverance and hard work. Devon never let his personal experience in neurological injuries go waste. Rather, he used it help the spinal cord injury (SCI) patients to enjoy the bike riding in outdoor settings. Devon then designed the motor assisted 3-wheel pedal adaptive mountain bike for SCI athletes. Currently, he manages the R&D and world cup racing development at Intense Cycles in Colorado.
Devon is not only a real-world proof benefitting from the biomedical science but also a living example of will power and perseverance to pursue a passion.

Keith Mitchell is a former All-Pro NFL player turned Celebrity Yogi. A Motivational Mindfulness Teacher that incorporates NLP Processing and Programing, Nutritionists/Herbalist studied under the Legend Dr. Sebi in Honduras, Co-Founder of Terra Pi in Playa Del Carmen Mexico and founder of @ChandraSeamoss. Fitness and Wellness Advocate, Community Activist, Humanitarian and Founder of the Light it Up Foundation.
Keith's Website

Dr. Benghuzzi is the executive director of Mississippi Academy of Sciences and Distinguished lecturer at Jackson State University, and Consultant in the effectiveness of Biomedical. devices. Prior to that he was a Professor at the University of MS Medical Center and chaired three departments as well as directing the PhD program during his tenure. He is known nationally and internationally as a pioneer in Ceramic Drug Delivery Systems. He has over 350 PubMed indexed articles and over 800 abstracts detailing the release characteristics of various biologicals from the bioceramic carriers. He has trained (major advisor) to 44 PhD students and served as a member for over 100 PhD committees. He has mentored students at all levels (from high school, undergrad, grad, post doc and faculty). He has served as a mentor for residents and faculty on more than 10 funded grants. He has been in research leadership roles in many organizations such President of the Academy of Surgical Research, President of International Society of Ceramics in Medicine (ISCM), President of Mississippi Academy of Sciences and Engineering, currently serving as a President of the International Biomedical Sciences Instrumentation Symposium (IBSIS)/Rocky Mountain Bioengineering Symposium, and also organized and chaired several regional, national and international society programs. He has also served on numerous NIH special emphasis panels including R-25, K01, KO8, T-35, and the P-60 center grants. In addition, he has received numerous awards from various organizations during his career. He was listed as Most Cited Scientist in Stanford University's Study of top 2% Most Cited Scientists in Biomedical Engineering worldwide. A few of his awards included: (1) The Presidential Award from the RMBS, (2) Presidential Award from SEM International, (3) the Endocrine's Society Outstanding Investigator Award, (4) MAS Contribution to Science Award, (5) The MAS Dudley Peeler Award, and (6) HEADWAE Award, (7) C. Hall Award, Outstanding Contribution to Biomedical Engineering (32nd SBEC), and (8) ISCM Excellence Award from the International Society for Ceramics in Medicine. He was invited as a keynote/plenary to speak at state, national and international levels including recent invitations in Japan, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, China, Poland, Dubai and Canada. He is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) as well as an International Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE).

Dr. Michelle Tucci, University of Mississippi Medical Center (mtucci@umc.edu) She is a Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS. Dr. Tucci has been involved in a leadership role for various state, national and international organizations. After completing her undergraduate training at Seton Hill University, in Pennsylvania she completed a Master's degree in Biology at the University of Dayton in Ohio. Following her move to Mississippi, she completed her PhD in pharmacology and Toxicology in 2000. Aside from her work supervising and overseeing resident's basic science research in orthopedic surgery for several years, she has also mentored and supervised a number of undergraduate and graduate students from diverse disciplines. She has served on over 80 doctoral dissertation committees, has published over 300 full journal publications (several in prestigious journals such as J. of Investigative Surgery, J. of Clin Investigation, Analytical Biochemistry, J. of Immunology, Infection & Immunity, Cancer Investigation, Microsurgery, Alcohol, Critical Reviews in Biomed Eng, J. of Gerontology, Pediatric Research, Annals of Pharmacotherapy, J. of Spinal Disorders and Techniques, J. Oral Pathol Med, to name a few), and published over 500 abstracts at state, regional, national and international meetings (Italy, France, Spain, Canada, Poland, and China). Her leadership role in various societies includes Director and program chair at the Rocky Mountain Biomedical Engineering Society; Program Chair at the Academy of Surgical Research, Program and conference organizer at the Southern Biomedical Engineering meetings, Chair of Pathology Implant SIG at the Society for Biomaterials, to name a few. She served/serving in editorial boards in several journals as well as member of various NIH special review panels. She is serving as Chief Editor of the Biomed Science Instrumentation and Chief Editor for Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences. Previously, she has been recognized for her work and service by the Academy of Surgical Research, the Mississippi Academy of Sciences Outstanding Contribution to Science, Peeler Dudley Outstanding Service Award, Douglas Walker Award and recently was inducted as fellow in American Institute of the Biomedical and Biological Engineering.

Steven F. Barrett, Ph.D., P.E., received the BS Electronic Engineering Technology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1979, the M.E.E.E. from the University of Idaho at Moscow in 1986, and the Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin in 1993. He was formally an active duty faculty member at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado and is now the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education at the University of Wyoming and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is a member of IEEE (senior) and Tau Beta Pi (chief faculty advisor). His research interests include digital and analog image processing, computer-assisted laser surgery, and embedded controller systems. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Wyoming and Colorado. He co-wrote several textbooks on microcontrollers and embedded systems. In 2004, Barrett was named "Wyoming Professor of the Year" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and in 2008 was the recipient of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Professional Engineers in Higher Education, Engineering Education Excellence Award.

Dr. Cameron Wright is the inaugural Carrell Family Dean of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Wyoming, where he has served as Dean since 2019. Before joining the University of Wyoming in 2003, Dr. Wright was a Professor and Deputy Department Head of Electrical Engineering with the United States Air Force Academy; a research and development engineering officer with the United States Air Force; and worked in covert intelligence operations and analysis with the United States Navy. Altogether he served for 30 years in the U.S. military before moving to civilian academia. Dr. Wright's areas of expertise include image processing, signal processing, biomedical instrumentation, real-time embedded computer systems, and robotically-controlled ophthalmic laser surgery systems. He is founding director of the Wyoming Image and Signal Processing Research Laboratory, and his research program has been supported by federal agencies that include NSF, NIH, DOD, DOE, and NASA. He is the author or co-author of over 250 publications, several books and book chapters, and is an inventor on one patent. In addition to his research and publication record, Dr. Wright has been the recipient of thirteen awards for excellence in teaching. In 2021, he was presented with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, selected from top 5% of persons listed in various editions of "Marquis Who's Who" continuously for at least 20 years. He is an active ABET evaluator, is a licensed Professional Engineer in California and Wyoming, serves as an NCEES PE exam committee member, and has consulted in multiple cases as an expert witness in federal court for intellectual property disputes. He has been an active member of RMBS since 1996.

Dr. Lee Waite was the Head of the Department of Applied Biology and Biomedical Engineering, and Director of the Guidant/Eli Lilly and Co. Applied Life Sciences Research Center, at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana. He has been president of the Rocky Mountain Bioengineering Symposium (RMBS) (2004-2008). Held annually since 1964, the RMBS is the longest continually operating biomedical engineering conference in North America. Dr. Waite was awarded the institutes 2007 Outstanding Scholar Award by the Rose-Hulman Board of Trustees, and was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at University of Heidelberg, Experimental Heart Surgery Laboratory, in Heidelberg, Germany in 2008-09. He taught at Kanazawa Institute of Technology in Kanazawa, Japan, during the 1993-94 academic year. His research interests include biofluids, injury biomechanics, vehicle accident reconstruction, modeling blood flow, medical instrumentation and the biomechanics of running. Dr. Lee Waite currently is a Principal Forensic Biomechanics Consultant for Rimkus consulting company in Philadelphia.

Rob Streeter received B.S. degrees in Electrical as well as Computer Engineering from the University of Wyoming in 2011 and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the same school in 2013. He has worked on UAS decision-making algorithms and test protocols for the U.S. Air Force Academy as a Research Engineer; LMR and IP system design, deployment, and maintenance for public and private entities with Ryan Electronics, Inc.; and in 2017/18 was a winter-over Research Associate at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station (under employment by Leidos for the Antarctic Support Contract, which is operated by the NSF). Rob started his PhD studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2019 and is focusing on the development of a passive, non-invasive internal temperature sensor leveraging a near-field surface probe and attached radiometer to determine tissue temperature based on measured thermal noise. He defended his Ph.D. thesis two days before the 60^th IBSIS-RMBS. CONGRATULATIONS DR. STREETER!

Dr. Sri Kumar is President of Safety Research Institute, Atlanta, GA and offers consulting in trauma biomechanics in the US and Canada. He was a faculty member at the Department of Neurosurgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI. Dr. Kumar has worked on several projects for the Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Defense (DOD), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), and Office of Naval Research (ONR). He has published more than 230 scientific articles including 75 journal publications based on laboratory research and applied research of real-world automotive crashes. His academic and applied evidence-based research have directly contributed to regulatory policies of NHTSA, position statement of IIHS, and injury mitigating guidelines of NATO. He holds three US patents dealing with rapid evacuation of trauma patients in emergency and public disaster situations. Dr. Kumar received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, and his MBA from UCLA, Los Angeles, CA. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering (AIBME). Dr. Kumar currently serves on the Policy Committee and Global Child/Youth Road Safety Committee of the American Association of Automotive Medicine (AAAM).

Dr. Katie J. Sikes is a Research Scientist at the Translational Medicine Institute of Colorado State University. Dr. Sikes received her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 2011 and her Doctor of Philosophy in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2016 while completing her research at Rush University Medical Center. She completed her post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Dave Frisbie at the Orthopaedic Research Center of Colorado State University, where she was awarded a fellowship grant by the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation for her work studying metabolic injury mechanisms in a mouse model of tendinopathy. In 2019, Dr. Sikes became a Research Scientist with the Preclinical Surgical Research Laboratory to spearhead the development of the Rodent and Rabbit Division, while continuing her research in soft tissue orthopaedics.

Rob Streeter received B.S. degrees in Electrical as well as Computer Engineering from the University of Wyoming in 2011 and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the same school in 2013. He has worked on UAS decision-making algorithms and test protocols for the U.S. Air Force Academy as a Research Engineer; LMR and IP system design, deployment, and maintenance for public and private entities with Ryan Electronics, Inc.; and in 2017/18 was a winter-over Research Associate at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station (under employment by Leidos for the Antarctic Support Contract, which is operated by the NSF). Rob started his PhD studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2019 and is focusing on the development of a passive, non-invasive internal temperature sensor leveraging a near-field surface probe and attached radiometer to determine tissue temperature based on measured thermal noise. He defended his Ph.D. thesis two days before the 60^th IBSIS-RMBS. CONGRATULATIONS DR. STREETER!