Carnegie Mellon Researcher Tapped To Participate In National Academy of Engineering’s 2006 Symposium

September 15, 2006

Contact: Chriss Swaney
Carnegie Mellon University
412.268.5776

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University’s Phillip R. LeDuc will join 79 of the nation’s brightest young engineers selected to participate in the National Academy of Engineering’s (NAE) 12th annual Frontiers of Engineering symposium Sept. 21-23, 2006.

“This is a great opportunity for me to interact with professionals from a broad spectrum of fields and to exchange research ideas,’’ said LeDuc, an assistant professor in mechanical engineering with courtesy appointments in biomedical engineering and biological sciences at Carnegie Mellon.

The two- and half-day event will bring together engineers ages 30 to 45 who are performing cutting-edge engineering research and technical work in a variety of disciplines. The participants – from industry, academia and government – had to be first nominated by fellow engineers or organizations and then chosen from the nearly 200 applicants.

The symposium will be held at Ford Research and Innovation Center in Dearborn, Mich., and will examine the nanotechnology-biology interface, intelligent software systems and machines, supply chain management and personal mobility issues.

“Participation in this program recognizes LeDuc’s status and achievement in his academic research, and we are proud of his selection for this symposium,’’ said Pradeep K. Khosla, dean of Carnegie Mellon’s College of Engineering. LeDuc is building tools that merge engineering technology with both scientific and commercial applications, which include developing bionanotechnology to investigate cell biometrics, diagnostic tools to detect cancer and computational methods to understand molecular behavior.

LeDuc, who sees the human cell as a bustling metropolis with all the parts necessary to the survival of life in an ever-changing world, is studying the astonishing diversity in the mechanics, structure and functions of the cell. These technologies are useful to help physicians and scientists understand and develop more accurate targets in drug development and therapies in medical treatment.

Some of the other industry symposium participants will include researchers from Microsoft, Alcoa Inc., IBM, Motorola Inc. and Dow Chemical Co.