Ming-Chien Chyu stands as an impactful pioneer on the cutting edge of healthcare engineering. With a career characterized by innovation and dedication, Chyu has left an indelible mark on the field. His groundbreaking work and visionary thinking have not only advanced the boundaries of healthcare technology but have also significantly improved patient care.
In this brief exploration, we will delve into the remarkable journey and achievements of Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu, shedding light on the transformative impact he has had in shaping the landscape of healthcare engineering.
The Illustrious Journey of Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu
Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas Tech University and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu has been a staunch advocate for collaboration between engineering and healthcare. He has earned recognition as a trailblazer in Healthcare Engineering, often referred to as the “Father of Healthcare Engineering” by 18 prominent global magazines based in the United States.
He holds the esteemed position of Founding President within the Healthcare Engineering Alliance Society (HEALS), a renowned global organization dedicated to enhancing and advancing healthcare through the application of engineering principles. This distinguished organization is committed to bridging the divide between healthcare and engineering, preparing both engineering students and professionals for impactful roles within the healthcare sector. It also strives to empower healthcare professionals to harness engineering methodologies in addressing healthcare challenges.
Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu has conducted research funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy, US Department of Agriculture, national laboratories, professional societies, state government, private foundations, and industry. He participated in superconductor research at Argonne National Laboratory, design of the International Space Station at NASA Johnson Space Center, and nuclear energy research at Sandia National Laboratories.
He served on a number of technical committees in American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), including the Chair of the Superconductivity Technical Committee in the Advanced Energy Systems Division of ASME.
He has published 200 technical publications including 140 archival journal papers in engineering and healthcare. His research activities cover a wide spectrum of specialties from epilepsy to cancer detection to surgery, from bone to joint to muscle biomechanics, from biophysical stimulations to dietary supplements for intervention, from mathematical analysis to model simulation to experiment, from laboratory to animal to human studies.
Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu is a Fellow of ASME, a Fellow of American College of Healthcare Trustees, and has received more than 35 honors/awards including those from 18 US-based global professional magazines, such as “World’s 10 Most Influential Engineering and Technology Leaders in 2023”, “The Most Influential Leaders Across the Globe 2023”, “Transdisciplinary Innovation Award”, “Impactful Pioneer Award”, ”Thought Leadership Award”, “Most Influential Leaders in Engineering & Technology USA”, “World’s Visionary Leaders Making a Difference – 2022”, “Top 100 Innovators & Entrepreneurs”, “Top 10 Eminent Leaders in the US Healthcare Industry 2023”,“Transformational Business Leaders of the Year”, “Best Inspiring Leaders of the Year 2022”, “Most Visionary Education Leaders in the US”, “30 Most Inspiring Leaders to Watch 2022”, and “Innovation Excellence Award”.
It is unusual for Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu as an engineering professor to have won the following prestigious awards in Healthcare from four global professional magazines: “World’s Most Influential Leaders Making an Impact in Healthcare, 2023”,“Most Influential Leaders in Healthcare in the US – 2022”, “10 Most Innovative Healthcare Leaders to Watch in the World – 2022”, and “Top 10 Eminent Leaders in the US Healthcare Industry 2023”. The Healthcare Engineering Alliance Society he established has been recognized as one of the “Most Influential Companies & Organizations of the Year” (2022).
Other awards he has received include “Outstanding Researcher”, “Award of Excellence”, “Best Paper”, “Most Useful Paper”, “Excellence in Teaching”, “Professor of the Year”, “Most Influential Faculty Member”, and “Distinguished Achievement” from government, professional societies, foundations, industry, university, and student organization.
Key Achievements of Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu’s Journey
Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu played a pivotal role as a visionary leader, guiding a group of 40 respected global experts in creating a significant white paper in 2015. This important document, which is also prominently featured on Wikipedia.org, offers a thorough and authoritative definition of Healthcare Engineering. It clarifies Healthcare Engineering as an academic discipline, a specialized field of expertise, and a distinguished profession. The paper elaborates on its primary purpose, broad scope, relevant topics, suitable platforms, valuable contributions, educational pathways, collaborative potential, and promising future prospects.
This influential publication, duly recognized and cited by numerous reputable publications, has already become a cornerstone in shaping the development of Healthcare Engineering worldwide. Its lasting impact is expected to endure for many years to come.
Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu has been a key figure in starting and organizing service platforms at HEALS. He’s been vital in connecting medical experts who’ve developed innovative ideas with engineers, researchers, consultants, and companies to guide their journey through FDA approval, manufacturing, and commercialization. Simultaneously, he has helped engineers, engineering professors/researchers, and companies connect with clinicians to ensure their inventions make a real impact on patients.
With his extensive experience, he’s established a platform, CoCaCo (Connect, Catalyze, Collaborate) that encourages collaboration among healthcare professionals, engineers, researchers, inventors, consultants, investors, entrepreneurs, and companies. This teamwork is focused on successfully bringing new medical devices and innovative healthcare technologies to the market. The platform bridges gaps not only between healthcare and engineering, but also between academia and industry.
The platform primarily serves as a central hub for bringing together various technical projects dedicated to addressing unmet patient care needs. These projects mainly originate from clinicians, engineers, and medical device/technology companies, seeking collaborations that encompass the entire process—from initial idea, research, design, prototyping, testing, and clinical trials, all the way through regulatory compliance, FDA clearance/approval, manufacturing, and securing capital funding.
Additionally, this platform presents valuable opportunities for engineering students to gain practical, hands-on experience by actively participating in real-world healthcare projects, working alongside clinicians, engineers, and well-established companies.
Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu has developed a powerful resource for students and healthcare engineering professionals. It’s a user-friendly platform called Medical Device Net, offering comprehensive information on all medical devices, including the most recent FDA-cleared/approved ones, totaling over 220,000. This platform is continually updated to stay current.
For engineering researchers and students conducting healthcare research, it is often a dilemma when searching for the right venue to publish their results. Their papers might be rejected by engineering journals for too much healthcare content and hard to find qualified engineering reviewers to review their manuscripts. On the other hand, they might be also rejected by healthcare/biomedical journals for too much engineering content and no qualified reviewers.
The same problem faces healthcare/biomedical researchers trying to publish their engineering papers. To deal with such issue, Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu has founded and served as the founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Healthcare Engineering. It is one of the first journals that publish scientific articles on the intersection of healthcare and engineering. It also encourages collaborative research in this field, focusing on the direct impact on patient outcomes.
Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu has also introduced the Healthcare Engineering Online Communities, bringing healthcare and engineering communities together and providing updated information about more than 500 topics from artificial intelligence to 3D printing for surgery, engineering for cancer diagnosis, and nanomedicine.
A Pioneer in Healthcare Engineering
Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu has launched a platform with the aim of helping engineering students and young engineers succeed in the healthcare industry, while also assisting the healthcare sector in recruiting well-qualified engineers. The healthcare industry requires more skilled engineers, both in terms of quantity and quality, across various engineering disciplines.
However, a significant challenge is that the majority of existing engineering curricula, especially at the undergraduate level, do not provide sufficient exposure to healthcare or biomedicine, except for biomedical engineering. Despite this, the healthcare industry is in great need of engineers from fields other than biomedical engineering, particularly those in computer, chemical, electrical, and mechanical engineering. Unfortunately, many engineering students are unaware of the numerous career opportunities available in the healthcare sector.
Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu has taken pioneering steps in preparing engineering students for healthcare careers by introducing a Healthcare Engineering Certificate Program. This program features an innovative approach called “Cutting-Edge Courses Customized” (CeCoCu), which allows individuals to tailor their learning experience to their backgrounds, interests, career goals, and market demands. It empowers learners to determine the course topics, objectives, and scope that best suit their needs.
This certificate program serves a triple purpose. It not only prepares engineering students for healthcare careers, but also facilitates the transition of practicing engineers from various industrial sectors into healthcare and enables healthcare professionals, such as physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, and allied health experts, to integrate engineering principles into their practice, problem-solving, and healthcare advancement.
Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu collaborates with healthcare engineering professionals and industry leaders to devise strategies that enhance the preparation of engineering students for healthcare roles. He also assists university professors and administrators in refining their curricula to meet the evolving needs of the healthcare industry.
Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu was the driving force behind a leading graduate healthcare engineering program at Texas Tech University. He has introduced groundbreaking initiatives, such as the world’s first platform to assist engineers and engineering students in their pursuit of careers and internships in the healthcare industry. Additionally, he has developed a platform to simplify the recruitment process for healthcare companies seeking highly skilled engineers and promising engineering students.
Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu’s brainchild, the Healthcare Engineering Mentoring Program, is a valuable resource. In this program, committed healthcare engineering professionals and industry leaders generously contribute their time, knowledge, expertise, and experience. Their primary goal is to support engineering students as they embark on careers in healthcare and medical technology while empowering young healthcare engineers to thrive in their respective fields.
“Dr. Chyu has been a pioneer in the field of healthcare engineering and was one of the early advocates for applying engineering practices to efforts to enhance the delivery of healthcare.”
-James P. Bagian, MD, PE, US National Academy of Medicine, US National Academy of Engineering, former NASA Astronaut
“Dr. Chyu may have already secured a historical position in the development of healthcare engineering.”
-Fazle Hussain, PhD, US National Academy of Engineering, The World Academy of Science
