Keynote Address:  "The importance of a team approach in bioengineering and the potential for economic development."

Duane F. Bruley, Ph.D., P.E. is a gifted researcher, entrepreneur, and academician.  He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, ORSORT degree, Nuclear Engineering, Oakridge School of Reactor Technology, a B.S. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire.  Dr. Bruley served as the first Dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Maryland Baltimore County College of Engineering, where he is currently Research Professor of the College of Engineering.

Dr. Bruley's distinguished career has included prominent leadership positions, including Dean of Engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Vice President of Academic Affairs at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Head of Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Environmental Systems Section at the National Science Foundation, and Head of the Chemical Engineering Department at Tulane University.

Dr. Bruley is considered a world leader in research on oxygen transfer in the brain and human tissue, as well as a pioneer in the simulation of the human microcirculation system.  His research areas involve the study of the symbiosis of biomedical and bioprocess engineering utilizing the principles of Total Quality Management to enhance health care quality and delivery.  This exciting research has led to a unique computational strategy (BWK) that performs 3-D, time dependent, heterogeneous, convection, diffusion, conduction, reaction simulations on small computers.  Dr. Bruley's work also spans bioprocess engineering for the production of anticoagulants (particularly, PROTEIN C) and hyperthermia. 

Dr. Bruley is the recipient of many awards and honors, including an Alumni Distinguished Service Award from the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, a JSPS Research Award to bring quantitative microcirculation research to the Yamagata Medical School Hokkaido University in Japan.  He has been elected to Fellow Grade in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (ALChE) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and elected Founding Fellow of The American Society of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). He is co-founder and former President of the International Society of Oxygen Transport to Tissue (ISOTT), a society of approximately 300 members that represents essentially every major tissue oxygen research laboratory in the world. 

Dr. Bruley played an important role in the formation of the Bioengineering Section at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and initiated a successful joint review and funding effort between the NSF and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  He has successfully achieved approximately $5 million in research support from such sources as the NIH, NSF, and NIHR.  Dr. Bruley has been a contract consultant for many top companies and medical schools in the United States and abroad, including American Red Cross, Arizona State University, Du Pont, EDS, El Paso, Polyolefin Inc., Henry Ford Hospital, American Enka Corporation, and Exxon.  Dr. Bruley's entrepreneurial experiences include a team project that resulted in a design of a female evacuation device, presently being used by NASA as a back-up system on all space flights. 

The breadth of Dr. Bruley's contributions to engineering administration, research, education and public service has brought him well-deserved recognition and the respect of his students, colleagues, and business associates.  Dr. Bruley has a reputation as versatile individual, with a wide range of interests, with an impressive list of accomplishments as a tennis player, umpire, and coach.  He is an Honorary Life Member of the United States Tennis Association, a member of United States Professional Tennis Association, as well as an avid skier, earning a NASTAR gold medal in downhill racing in Vail, Colorado in 1987.