Lipscomb alumnus Caleb Rucker wins prestigious NSF CAREER AWARD
George Wong |
With robotic technology on the verge of transforming medical care, Lipscomb alumnus Caleb Rucker (‘06), assistant professor in the department of mechanical, aerospace and biomedical engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is seeking to use his research to create safer and more effective devices for surgical procedures based on new mathematical models and designs of soft dynamic robots.
In April 2017, Rucker was awarded the National Science Foundation Early Career Development Award for his proposal “CAREER: Safe and Transformative Robotic Intervention through Dynamic Elastic Structures (STRIDE). The CAREER Award is the National Science Foundation's most prestigious award in support of junior faculty who have the potential to serve as an academic role model in research and education, and includes a five-year grant.
“I felt very excited and grateful for the honor, opportunity and resources to do the research,” said Rucker, who attended Lipscomb Academy from first grade through 12th grade, and double majored in math and mechanical engineering during his undergraduate career at Lipscomb University. “Robotic devices are currently being used in medical applications, but their prevalence is hindered by lack of capability. This project seeks to transform the safety and effectiveness of medical interventions by advancing the capabilities of flexible robots and medical devices, as well as create new mathematical models to better understand the behavior of flexible robots and to develop innovative robotic devices to increase their reach, precision, intelligence and safety.
In collaboration with medical professionals, Rucker’s five-year project will use these results to develop robotic systems for minimally invasive surgical removal of colon cancer and upper extremity rehabilitation. He says his research is fundamentally linked to an educational plan that includes middle- and high-school engineering outreach, as well as undergraduate research and open courseware development.
As an assistant professor of engineering at UT Knoxville, Rucker says he loves encouraging his students to be problem solvers.
“Teaching engineering is my ideal job because I get to learn everyday while helping other people learn and develop skills that they will use to solve problems in society,” said Rucker. “I always loved the relationships I had with my professors, and now I’m on the other side, getting to work with amazing students who will change the world.”
As a Lipscomb “Lifer,” Rucker says he appreciated not only the way Lipscomb prepared him for his career, but also the Christ-centered community he had during his time on campus.
“Lipscomb prepared me very well, both technically and spiritually, for a career as an engineer and educator,” said Rucker. “Spending extra time to double major in math and engineering turned out to be a great choice because I was able to hit the ground running in graduate school with a full toolbox to apply to research problems.”
Want to learn more about Lipscomb’s Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering? Visit: engineering.lipscomb.edu.