Dr. C.A. Phillips received his A.B. degree (1965) from Stanford University and the M.D. degree (1969) from the University of Southern California. He is a registered professional engineer (P.E.) in electrical engineering in Ohio and California. Dr. Phillips is currently professor of biomedical engineering, industrial engineering and human factors engineering at Wright State University, and was the director of its Biomedical Engineering Program from 1975-1984. He has received national and international recognition for his work on functional electrical rehabilitation and ambulation of spinal cord injured individuals, including the Harry Rowe Mimno Award (IEEE), the Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award (NSPE) and an Honorary Doctorate (Ph.D.). Other honors include Miller Comm Lecturer (Univ. of Illinois), Eminent Engineer (Tau Beta Pi) and the Professional Excellence Award (Life Sciences and Biomedical Engineering) of the Aerospace Medical Association. The author of over 250 scientific communications (including six books and six patents), his research interests include the biomechanics and energetics of skeletal and cardiac muscle, and also neuromuscular and sensory feedback control in ergonomics and rehabilitation.
Dr. Phillips first came to Dayton, Ohio in 1971 and served as a medical officer at the Armstrong Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. In 1975, he joined the faculty at Wright State University’s newly established School of Medicine and developed the planning document for an undergraduate program in Biomedical Engineering. In 1978 the Ohio Board of Regents approved the Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering degree, making Wright State University historically the first state university in Ohio to offer this undergraduate engineering degree. The new program experienced significant growth in both faculty and students, as well as research funding and national reputation so that in 1984 it became a full-scale Department of Biomedical Engineering.
By the mid-1980’s, the work of Dr. Phillips and his colleagues had received national and international acclaim for the restoration of movement and walking to persons with spinal cord paralysis by means of functional electrical stimulation. This work was subsequently summarized in his 1991 textbook, Functional Electrical Rehabilitation (published by Springer-Verlag).
Since 1985, Dr. Phillips has been a senior faculty member in both the Biomedical Engineering Program and Human Factors Engineering Program at Wright State College of Engineering and Computer Science. He is currently the program/track director for Ergonomic Engineering concentration in the graduate degree program. This pioneering program/track is at the interface between traditional human factors and biomedical engineering. Dr. Phillips had recently summarized the fundamentals of this innovative discipline in his most recent textbook, Human Factors Engineering (published by John Wiley).
Dr. Phillips has been elected a Fellow of four international medical and engineering societies. In 1985, he was elected an honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Neurologic and Orthopedic Surgeons (AANOS), which cited him for remarkable breakthroughs in the application of functional electrical stimulation to restore movement and walking to persons with permanent spinal cord paralysis. In 1994, he was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), which cited him for significant contributions to biomedical engineering education. In 2000, he was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) which cited him for contributions to advancing the technology and professional development of biomedical engineering as applied to the rehabilitation of paralyzed muscle. Later in 2000, Dr. Phillips was elected as an Associate Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association.
Dr. Phillips is a Charter Member of the Aerospace Human Factors Association and an Honor Member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. He also holds membership in the American Physiological Society, the American Society of Biomechanics, the Institute of Industrial Engineers and the Society of Automotive Engineering.
