WHS grad named fellow of National Academy of Inventors
Duerk says he got his start with math, science in Wadsworth
Jeffrey Duerk, a 1977 Wadsworth High School graduate and dean of Case Western Reserve University’s School of Engineering, has been elected to fellowship in the National Academy of Inventors. Submitted photo
WADSWORTH – After decades of work in the field of MRI, a Wadsworth grad has received a very prestigious honor.
Jeffrey Duerk, a 1977 Wadsworth High School graduate and dean of Case Western Reserve University’s School of Engineering, has been elected to fellowship in the National Academy of Inventors for lifetime achievement and leadership in innovation and scientific discovery.
Duerk, along with the rest of the 175-member class of 2016 fellows, will be inducted at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston in April.
NAI fellows are nominated by their peers for outstanding contributions to innovation in areas such as patents and licensing, innovative discovery and technology, significant impact on society and support and enhancement of innovation.
“I learned of the award about a day before the public announcement,” Duerk said. “I was obviously thrilled that I had been recognized for the scientific research, patents and subsequent licensing of my work.”
Duerk said he was fortunate to get into the field of MRI on the ground floor in 1983 when the first commercial systems were just starting to emerge.
“The thing about MRI that I found interesting is that it represented an opportunity to see inside the body without surgery and it used fantastic engineering and scientific technology,” Duerk said. “My specific later work focused on how to adapt MRI from a tool that could be used to review images in order to make a diagnosis to one that could be used for image guided therapies with the physician watching images being acquired so fast that it looked like a movie to them and they could watch their interventional tools like catheters, stents and chemical ablations be delivered and deployed.”
Duerk said his interest in math and science began at an early age.
“When I was a kid in Wadsworth, I would go to the library and check out books on anatomy,” he said. “When I was in high school Mr. (Page) Schrock and Mr. (Larry) Varner motivated me toward science.”
Duerk began his undergraduate degree at Bowling Green majoring in physics and math.
“I realized I wanted to combine them and hence engineering was a more likely path so I transferred to Purdue in 1979,” he said.
Duerk graduated from Purdue in 1981 with a degree in electrical engineering. He went on to Ohio State University to continue his training and it was there when he first learned of MRI.
“I remember clearly thinking that this was exactly what I wanted to do,” he said. “It had medical applications, quantum physics and great mathematical challenges.”
As dean of the school of engineering at Case Western Reserve, Duerk said he is incredibly proud of the many PhD graduate students he has been able to mentor.
“Many have gone on to do very impressive things in the field as well as groundbreaking work the Case Western Reserve University MRI group continues to perform today,” he said.
Duerk said he is looking forward to future advancements with MRI.
“I think the next frontiers in MRI will be converting it to a tool that provides quantitative, measureable physiologic parameters like tissue perfusion, pH, oxygenation and biochemistry,” he said.
Jeffrey Duerk, a 1977 Wadsworth High School graduate and dean of Case Western Reserve University’s School of Engineering, has been elected to fellowship in the National Academy of Inventors for lifetime achievement and leadership in innovation and scientific discovery.
Duerk, along with the rest of the 175-member class of 2016 fellows, will be inducted at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston in April.
NAI fellows are nominated by their peers for outstanding contributions to innovation in areas such as patents and licensing, innovative discovery and technology, significant impact on society and support and enhancement of innovation.
“I learned of the award about a day before the public announcement,” Duerk said. “I was obviously thrilled that I had been recognized for the scientific research, patents and subsequent licensing of my work.”
Duerk said he was fortunate to get into the field of MRI on the ground floor in 1983 when the first commercial systems were just starting to emerge.
“The thing about MRI that I found interesting is that it represented an opportunity to see inside the body without surgery and it used fantastic engineering and scientific technology,” Duerk said. “My specific later work focused on how to adapt MRI from a tool that could be used to review images in order to make a diagnosis to one that could be used for image guided therapies with the physician watching images being acquired so fast that it looked like a movie to them and they could watch their interventional tools like catheters, stents and chemical ablations be delivered and deployed.”
Duerk said his interest in math and science began at an early age.
“When I was a kid in Wadsworth, I would go to the library and check out books on anatomy,” he said. “When I was in high school Mr. (Page) Schrock and Mr. (Larry) Varner motivated me toward science.”
Duerk began his undergraduate degree at Bowling Green majoring in physics and math.
“I realized I wanted to combine them and hence engineering was a more likely path so I transferred to Purdue in 1979,” he said.
Duerk graduated from Purdue in 1981 with a degree in electrical engineering. He went on to Ohio State University to continue his training and it was there when he first learned of MRI.
“I remember clearly thinking that this was exactly what I wanted to do,” he said. “It had medical applications, quantum physics and great mathematical challenges.”
As dean of the school of engineering at Case Western Reserve, Duerk said he is incredibly proud of the many PhD graduate students he has been able to mentor.
“Many have gone on to do very impressive things in the field as well as groundbreaking work the Case Western Reserve University MRI group continues to perform today,” he said.
Duerk said he is looking forward to future advancements with MRI.
“I think the next frontiers in MRI will be converting it to a tool that provides quantitative, measureable physiologic parameters like tissue perfusion, pH, oxygenation and biochemistry,” he said.