Lakshmi “Prasad” Dasi’s contributions to heart valve engineering and biofluid mechanics has earned him a place among the top medical and biological engineers in the country.

The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) announced Feb. 15 that Dasi is joining its College of Fellows as part of the 2021 class. Election to fellow is an honor reserved for just 2% of the top medical and biological engineering leaders in the nation.

“My mission is to translate biomedical technology for the benefit of humanity. Election to AIMBE means so much to me personally. It is a new door that has been opened, inviting me to actively engage in AIMBE's efforts to push our vision to make the world better,” said Dasi, professor and associate chair for undergraduate studies in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. “I am looking forward to serving beyond the boundaries of academic research and education.”

Candidates for the AIMBE College of Fellows are nominated by existing members and evaluated by a panel of a dozen of their peers. Reviewers consider significant research accomplishments and how candidates have engaged in service and given back to the fields of medical and biological engineering “for the benefit of society.”

“The most accomplished and distinguished engineering and medical school chairs, research directors, professors, innovators, and successful entrepreneurs comprise the College of Fellows,” according to an institute news release about Dasi’s election.

Five Georgia Tech faculty members are among the 174 new AIMBE fellows this year: Dasi; Julie Champion and Corey Wilson, associate professors in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; and Nazanin Bassiri-Gharb and Brandon Dixon, professors in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. They will be formally inducted at AIMBE’s Annual Event in March.

Dasi said his election as a fellow is really more of a beginning to than a culmination of his impact.

“As the late Professor Bob Nerem put it: ‘Life is filled with a lot of paths and doors to walk through. Do not waste time on a door which is closed; let the rock in your path be a stepping stone,’” Dasi said.

“I am confident this is a stepping stone to something bigger, and I am excited about it.”