2024-2028 Steering Committee Candidate:

Timmie Topoleski

Biosketch:

Affiliation: University of Maryland, Baltimore County (USA)
US Society for Biomaterials

Dr. Topoleski earned his B.S. (1981), M.Eng. (1984), and M.S. (1986) in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, and his Ph.D. (1990) from the University of Pennsylvania in Bioengineering.

Dr. Topoleski has been a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UMBC for 34 years, where he is currently a Professor. He has developed design and laboratory classes and taught undergraduate mechanics and materials classes, and graduate classes in mechanics, biomaterials, and biomechanics. He has served as Department Chair, and as the President of the UMBC Faculty Senate. He has had a long-term commitment to, and has been an advocate for, inclusive excellence at UMBC and the US Society for Biomaterials. He has been involved in the education of traditionally underrepresented students throughout his career: he has been involved with the UMBC Meyerhoff Scholars program as a mentor, and he is the faculty advisor to the UMBC Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers. Because of his reputation for championing underrepresented minorities in mechanical engineering, all of his PhD students have been underrepresented minority students. He is a UMBC STRIDE Fellow, working with his colleagues across campus to increase inclusion, diversity, and equity. He is active as a mentor to his colleagues both within and outside of UMBC. Much of his research work has been devoted to medical applications, and he was a Visiting Scientist and consultant with the US FDA. He has published papers (over 100 peer reviewed papers, book chapters, and patents) in orthopaedic biomaterials, cardiovascular materials, cardiovascular and lung tissue mechanics, and medical devices. He has branched out to develop new interests and expertise in Engineering Education, Engineering and Art collaborations, and Automotive Design. He worked with artists to create an animated installation piece that was exhibited at UMBC’s CADVC Gallery (fall 2021), and more recently to create an installation where bioluminescent bacteria react to sound. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, Part B, Applied Biomaterials. He has held leadership positions in the US Society for Biomaterials, as a member of the Governing Council in several roles (e.g., Chair of the Liaison Committee, Bylaws Committee) and was elected Member-at-Large. He was the Program Chair for the 2013 Society for Biomaterials meeting in Boston, USA.

Dr. Topoleski’s contributions have been recognized by his election as a Fellow of AIMBE (2008) and as a Fellow, Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE) of the IUSBSE (2020). He was a member of the Board of Directors and Leadership Board for the Maryland Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. He was named the UMBC Presidential Teaching Professor, UMBC Honors College Faculty of the Year, and a UMBC Humanities Teaching Fellow. He was awarded the Outstanding Research and Outstanding Teaching Awards from the UMBC College of Engineering. He was inducted into The Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and is a Tau Beta Pi Eminent Engineer. He was awarded the Coventry Award for Basic Science Research by the US Knee Society.

Vision & Purpose:

I believe that the International College of Fellows, Biomaterials Science and Engineering, is in a singular position to bring enormous value to the world-wide biomaterials community, including both researchers and students. As a community of educators and researchers, we are able to act as a unique centralized organizing agency to give students unparalleled experiences with our colleagues across the globe. I would like to see the International College work to make connections between Fellows and our constituent societies to foster student exchange and research and education collaborations. I would like to be elected for this position to continue the work that the College of Fellows has already been involved with and expand those initiatives. I feel that my experience in leadership positions with the US Society for Biomaterials, as well as my recent position as one of the US representatives to the IUSBSE, will allow me to contribute to expanding the network of programs to provide students with experiences in international laboratories. I believe that exchanging ideas and collaborating with our international colleagues will bring diverse approaches and viewpoints to each of us and our individual societies. These initiatives will help to train the next generation of biomaterials scientists and engineers and foster the creation and development of the biomaterials of the future.

I agree to be nominated and I am willing to serve as a member of the Steering Committee.