Dr. William Federspiel joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh in 1995 as an Associate Professor. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester in 1984 and has held academic positions in biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University and Boston University. His past industrial experience includes being a Principal Staff Scientist at ABIOMED Inc., a Boston based artificial heart company, and a Research Scientist at the Biomechanics Institute in Boston, a nonprofit bioengineering think-tank. In addition to his current academic position, Dr. Federspiel is a Founder of ALung Technologies, a Pittsburgh based medical start-up company, for which he serves as the head of the scientific advisory board.