Pitt HomeFind PeopleContact Us
School of Engineering

January 14, 2008

News View Article

Dr. Savio Woo Honored with the First Diamond Award for Distinguished Achievement in Academia

Savio Woo, University Professor, has been named the first recipient of the University of Washington’s prestigious Diamond Award for Distinguished Achievement in Academia. Beginning in 2006, the UW College of Engineering has bestowed the Diamond Award to honor outstanding alumni in industry, and this year, the Diamond Award has been extended to an outstanding alumnus for exceptional knowledge and significant contributions to the field of engineering in academia. Dean Matt O’Donnell announced that Dr. Woo is the first professor to receive this award.

The Diamond Award acknowledges Dr. Woo’s pioneering work in bioengineering research. His landmark research on the biomechanics of the knee and healing of ligament injuries prompted orthopedic surgeons to abandon weeks or months of cast immobilization. Woo showed that rehabilitation with controlled movement and exercise speeds healing from devastating injuries.

Dr. Woo continues groundbreaking work in orthopedics. Currently, he and his research team at the University of Pittsburgh Musculoskeletal Research Center, Department of Bioengineering, are using robotics to develop better surgical procedures. In collaboration with investigators at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, his research team is also tackling ligament healing on the molecular and cellular levels through functional tissue engineering.

Dr. Woo is a rare scientist who is honored by membership in both the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering, as well as in Academia Sinica (PRC).  He has also received the highest honors from many professional societies including the Bioengineering Division of the ASME, the American Society of Biomechanics, the International Society of Biomechanics, and the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine as well as receiving the IOC Olympic prize for Sports Science and Gold Medal at the Nagano Games in 1998.

Experts and Stories

There is always newsworthy research and events happening in the Swanson School of Engineering.

You are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Although this site is viewable in all browsers, it will look much better in a browser that supports web standards.