UTEP | College of Engineering

New UTEP Faculty to Head Biomedical Engineering Programs

Dr. Thomas Boland

The College of Engineering at The University of Texas at El Paso is pleased to announce that Thomas Boland, Ph.D., has been named Professor in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, effective August 2009. He will also serve as the future director of the biomedical engineering programs at UTEP.

Currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at Clemson University, Dr. Boland was instrumental in developing Clemson’s Bioengineering program. He is also Director of a National Science Foundation/National Institute of Health funded summer institute at Clemson in the area of biomaterials and bioinformatics.

“We are in the planning stages for new MS and PhD programs in biomedical engineering, which we hope to open as soon as Fall 2010,” said Dr. Richard Schoephoerster, Dean of the College of Engineering. “Dr. Boland brings the necessary experience and research credibility to get those programs off to a great start. His unique research program will also serve as a bridge between the new biomedical engineering programs and the manufacturing engineering PhD program we also hope to start in Fall 2010.”

Dr. Boland’s work has been cited more than 800 times. He’s received numerous awards and was featured on CNN and the Discovery Channel for his groundbreaking research using inkjet printers to assemble cells and biomaterials into viable and functioning structures.

In July he was a featured speaker at a biofabrication conference in Bordeaux, France, where he served on the scientific committee. To view an interview with Dr. Boland after the conference visit YouTube.

– Beth Sutton