A Binghamton University doctoral student was chosen last week as the USA Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ 2009 New Face of Engineering.

Guruprasad Madhavan was spotlighted for his research in biomedical engineering, which has received attention from clinics and companies that could use the technology to lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart failure and osteoporosis for patients.

The IEEE is an international non-profit organization dedicated to providing engineering information and resources to more than 375,000 members from 160 countries.

Madhavan is one of the 14 international candidates under 30 years old chosen for the recognition. He was nominated by engineering societies from the National Engineering Week Foundation.

He was nominated by Barbara Oakley, former vice president of IEEE’s Engineering in Medicine and Biology society, which is the largest in the world.

“Guru is very creative, hardworking and quite an asset to Binghamton University,” Oakley said.

Madhavan is working with BU engineers, nurses, scholars, scientists and physicians in researching strategies to stimulate calf muscle pumps through mechanical and electrical impulses.

Calf muscles are responsible for human blood circulation, as they pump three-fourths of the body’s blood against gravity to the heart.

“The heart only pumps what it receives,” Madhavan said.

Reflex arcs on feet, which trigger nerves for calf muscle pump stimulation, can be mechanically stimulated through a vibrating plate, or electrical impulses.

“We were impressed with his potential future, as his research will help others around the world,” Abby Vogel, a chair of the New Face of Engineering selection committee, said.

The group hopes to expand the technology into other areas of usage.

“We are also exploring approaches to make this into a footwear technology to provide portable circulatory assistance during work, rest or travel,” Madhavan said.

Madhavan was born in India, where he completed his bachelor’s degree in instrumentation and control engineering. In 2002, he received his master’s degree in bioengineering and a scholarship for doctoral research from SUNY Stony Brook.

Madhavan became interested in neuromuscular stimulation as a research scientist in the cardiac surgery industry treating arrhythmias, periods of abnormal electrical activity in the heart.

“That experience helped reconfirm my interest to prevent health complications than to treat them with drugs or surgery,” he said.

In 2004, Madhavan came to BU with Ken McLeod, his Stony Brook adviser and current BU chairman of the bioengineering department. He is now pursuing his doctorate in biomedical engineering.

Madhavan is currently a chairman of IEEE’s Binghamton Section Gold Committee, which provides engineering-related services to local students and college graduates.

He’s arranged two Student Professional Advancement Conferences at BU’s Innovative Technologies Complex with engineering-related topics from career growth to self management.

“Guru [Madhavan] is [a] leader in biomedical engineering in the Greater Binghamton area,” Dr. Douglas Hopkins, a former chair of IEEE’s Binghamton section and professor at SUNY Buffalo, said.

Last year Madhavan co-edited “Career Development in Bioengineering and Biotechnology,” a volume introducing students to engineering careers, with Barbara Oakley and Luis Kun.

Contributors to the volume included Dr. John Holdren, President Obama’s science adviser, and Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatmas Gandhi.