Steven Little Elected Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society

PITTSBURGH (July 16, 2015) … Steven Little , Associate Professor, CNG Faculty Fellow and Chair of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering, has been elected a Class of 2015 Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) .

Founded in 1968, BMES is an interdisciplinary professional society for biomedical engineering and bioengineering. Fellow status is awarded to Society members who demonstrate exceptional achievements and experience in the field of biomedical engineering, and a record of membership and participation in the Society. Dr. Little holds eight US patents and provisional applications for patents including new methods to fabricate controlled release vehicles in a high throughput fashion; dissolvable synthetic-vasculature; novel complex delivery vehicles; and a description of the first degradable, artificial cell.  He has authored/co-authored 70 articles in highly prestigious archival journals in his fields of specialization (controlled release, biomimetic materials, tissue engineering/regenerative medicine and drug delivery).

"Dr. Little's election as BMES Fellow recognizes his seminal contributions to bioengineering education and research during his academic career," noted Harvey Borovetz , Distinguished Professor and Former Chair of Bioengineering and the Robert L. Hardesty Professor of Surgery at Pitt, and BMES Fellow who nominated Dr. Little. "In addition to his remarkable achievements in his research, Dr. Little is a prolific classroom instructor whose courses are among the most highly rated in the Swanson School of Engineering. He is the mentor for numerous M.S. and Ph.D. candidates; his lab is a magnet for undergraduate students, with more than 40 undergraduate interns being mentored by Dr. Little to date.  We are very proud to recognize Dr. Steven Little as a Class of 2015 Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society."

Dr. Little joins the ranks of several BMES Fellows at Pitt, including Dr. Borovetz; Clifford Brubaker , Distinguished Service Professor and Dean Emeritus of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences; Rory Cooper , FISA/PVA Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor of the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences; William Federspiel , the William Kepler Whiteford Professor of Bioengineering; Sanjeev Shroff, Distinguished Professor and the Gerald E. McGinnis Chair in Bioengineering and Professor of Medicine; David Vorp , Associate Dean for Research in the Swanson School of Engineering and the William Kepler Whiteford Professor of Bioengineering; William Wagner , Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Professor of Surgery, Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering; and Savio L-Y. Woo , Distinguished University Professor of Bioengineering and the Founder and Director of the Musculoskeletal Research Center (MSRC).

More About Dr. Little
Dr. Steven Little is Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, Immunology, Ophthalmology and The McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a University Honors College Faculty Fellow. Dr. Little received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT in 2005, with his thesis winning the American Association for Advancement of Science's Excellence in Research Award. In May of 2012, Dr. Little was appointed as the 12th Chairman of the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, one of the oldest Departments of its type in the world, dating back to 1910.

In his first year on the Pitt faculty (2006), Dr. Little was appointed as a Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Engineering, the only Assistant Professor to hold this position. In 2007, he received career development awards from both the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health (K-Award). In 2008, Dr. Little was named as one of only 16 Beckman Young Investigators by the Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation. Dr. Little is the only individual from the University of Pittsburgh to have ever received this award. In 2009, he was presented with the Board of Visitors Award that denotes the "single most outstanding faculty member in the School of Engineering." In 2010, he received the Coulter Translational Research Award from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation. In 2011, Dr. Little was named the recipient of the Society For Biomaterials' Young Investigator Award. In 2012, Dr. Little received the University of Pittsburgh's Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award, and by winning the 2013 Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award, Dr. Little stands as the only professor in School history to receive both the teaching and research awards.

Dr. Little was also named as one of only 14 "Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholars" by the Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation in 2013 and also was named the recipient of the Carnegie Science Award for University Educators that year. In 2014, Dr. Little was named the winner of the Research to Prevent Blindness Innovative Ophthalmic Research Award, the recipient of a Phase II Coulter Translational Award, named one of Pittsburgh Magazine's "40 under 40," and highlighted as one of only five individuals in Pittsburgh who are "reshaping our world" by Pop City Media.

In 2015, Dr. Little was named the winner of the Carnegie Science Award for Advanced Materials, a Fast Tracker (University Leader category) by the Pittsburgh Business Times, a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), and the winner of the 2015 Curtis W. McGraw Award from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).

Dr. Little is also a Co-Founder of Qrono Inc. , which is a Pittsburgh-based start-up company that provides custom designed controlled release formulations for pharmaceutical companies, agricultural industry, and academic laboratories.

About the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
The Swanson School's Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering serves undergraduate and graduate engineering students, the University and industry, through education, research, and participation in professional organizations and regional/national initiatives. The Department maintains a tradition of excellence in education and research, evidenced by recent national awards including numerous NSF CAREER Awards, a Beckman Young Investigator Award, an NIH Director's New Innovator Award, and the DOE Hydrogen Program R&D Award, among others. Active areas of research in the Department include Biological and Biomedical Systems; Energy and Sustainability; and Materials Modeling and Design.

The faculty holds a record of success in obtaining research funding such that the Department ranks within the top 25 U.S. Chemical Engineering departments for Federal R&D spending in recent years with annual research expenditures exceeding $7 million. The vibrant research culture within the Department includes active collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the Center for Simulation and Modeling, the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, the Petersen Institute of NanoScience and Engineering and the U.S. DOE-affiliated Institute for Advanced Energy Solutions.

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Author: Paul Kovach