Newsmaker: Richard Debski

Richard Debski

Noteworthy: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers elected Debski as a fellow of the society, recognizing his contributions to biomechanical engineering and his support of the society. Of ASME's 117,503 members, only 3,179 have been elected as fellows.

Age: 42

Residence: Mt. Lebanon

Occupation: Associate professor of bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering. Debski is also co-director of the Orthopedic Robotics Laboratory.

Family: Wife Mandy and daughter Riley, 12.

Background: Debski has been working on biomechanical problems, mainly involving the shoulder, since his senior design project in college. He studies the functions of ligaments, tendons and other components of the four shoulder joints and how best to treat them. The shoulder has the largest range of motion of any body part, so it presents researchers with multiple challenges, he said.

Education: Bachelor's and doctorate degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.

Quote: “There's always a new problem to address. That makes it a lot of fun.”

— Brian Bowling