Paul King, professor emeritus of biomedical engineering, received a lifetime achievement award in 2011 for his outstanding achievements in BME design instruction.
The award was presented to King during the BME-Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship Alliance (IDEA) symposium at the BMES fall conference in Hartford, Conn., in mid-October.
“Paul King has achieved substantial impact in the instruction of BME design, influencing a generation of biomedical engineering undergraduates at Vanderbilt and amplifying his impact on the field in a profound and appropriately recognized way,” said Todd Giorgio, chair of the department of biomedical engineering.
Professor King also is the 2011 recipient of the highest award given by the Biomedical Engineering Division of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). The Pilkington Award is given to an educator for lifetime achievement in teaching, research and administration in biomedical engineering academic programs.
King is a pioneer in undergraduate education in biomedical engineering design. He developed the fourth year capstone biomedical engineering design course at Vanderbilt University in 1991. He inspired and led changes that enabled the formation of student design teams composed from multiple engineering disciplines to better represent the multidisciplinary industrial environment.
King is also the co-author of the first biomedical-specific textbook on engineering design: “Design of Biomedical Devices and Systems.” The second edition of this text was published in 2008. The publisher of King’s books recently reported sales of 3,647 copies, of which 1,462 are of volume two.
King’s local influence has been equally monumental, teaching biomedical design to a total of 1,280 learners formulated into 526 teams over 21 years. More than 100 of these projects were sponsored by industrial preceptors. Vanderbilt engineering student design teams have won national and international awards.