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Beth Pruitt

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Beth Pruitt
Academic background
EducationS.B., mechanical engineering, 1991, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.S., Manufacturing Systems Engineering, PhD, 2002, Stanford University
ThesisPiezorestive cantilevers for characterizing thin-film gold electrical contacts (2002)
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Santa Barbara
Stanford University

Beth L. Pruitt is an American engineer.[a][1] Upon completing her master's degree in manufacturing systems engineering from Stanford University, Pruitt served as an officer in the United States Navy. She is a full professor of mechanical engineering, biological engineering, and biomolecular science & engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara.[2] She is a fellow of both ASME and AIMBE.[3]

Early life and education

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Pruitt completed her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received a master's degree in manufacturing systems engineering from Stanford University. Upon completing her master's degree, Pruitt served as an officer in the United States Navy before re-enrolling at the institution for her PhD.[4]

Career

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Upon earning her PhD in 2002, Pruitt worked on nanostencils and polymer microelectromechanical systems with the Laboratory for Microsystems and Nanoengineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.[5] Following this, she returned to Stanford University for the 2003–04 academic year as the Reid and Polly Anderson Faculty Scholar in the School of Engineering.[6] In this role, she started the Stanford Microsystems Laboratory[5] and was a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER Awards for her project "A Microsystems Approach to Cellular Manipulation and Interaction."[7] In 2007, Pruitt was named the Principal investigator (PI) of a four-year project to learn how electrical, mechanical and chemical stimulation could be applied to stem cells to generate tissue for repairing damage.[8] As a result of her research, Pruitt was promoted to the rank of associate professor of Mechanical Engineering on September 1, 2010.[9] She was also the recipient of the 2010 Denice Denton Award from the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology.[10]

While serving in her role as an associate professor, Pruitt oversaw a team in developing electromechanical devices for use as high-speed force probes.[11] The following year, she was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for "her work that includes a focus on creating micro-electrical systems to detect the minute forces that cells exert upon one another as they carry out the basic mechanics of life."[12] She was also inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering "for outstanding contributions in microscale measurement technology for cell biomechanics and quantitative cell mechanobiology."[13]

Pruitt was eventually promoted to the rank of Full Professor of Mechanical Engineering on April 1, 2017.[14] She eventually left Stanford to become the CBE Director at the University of California, Santa Barbara. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pruitt was elected a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society as someone who had "demonstrated exceptional achievements and experience in the field of biomedical engineering."[15]

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Her research interests have been described as laying at "the intersection of mechanobiology, microfabrication, engineering and science"
  1. ^ "Beth Pruitt". Mechanical Engineering - UC Santa Barbara. 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2023-06-10.
  2. ^ "Beth L. Pruitt | Biological Engineering | UC Santa Barbara". bioengineering.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-10.
  3. ^ "Beth Pruitt". www.aiche.org. 2018-07-20. Retrieved 2023-06-10.
  4. ^ "Beth L. Pruitt". bioengineering.ucsb.edu. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Beth L. Pruitt". IEEE. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  6. ^ "President's Report to the Board of Trustees". news.stanford.edu. December 10, 2003. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  7. ^ "CAREER: A Microsystems Approach to Cellular Manipulation and Interaction". nsf.gov. February 9, 2005. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  8. ^ Orenstein, David (October 17, 2007). "Multidisciplinary team gets $2 million". news.stanford.edu. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  9. ^ "Report of the President: Academic Council Professoriate Appointments". news.stanford.edu. October 13, 2010. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  10. ^ "Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Announces Record-Breaking Turnout". benzinga.com. October 1, 2010. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  11. ^ "Bio-X researchers develop new technology to study hearing". med.stanford.edu. January 7, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  12. ^ Abate, Tom (April 10, 2015). "Beth Pruitt elected a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers". engineering.stanford.edu. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  13. ^ "Beth L. Pruitt to be Inducted into Medical and Biological Engineering Elite" (PDF). aimbe.org. January 20, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  14. ^ "Report of the President: Appointments and promotions". news.stanford.edu. June 21, 2017. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  15. ^ "Beth Pruitt elected to the 2020 BMES Class of Fellows". bioengineering.ucsb.edu. July 31, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
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