Graduate students studying biomedical engineering at McMaster University received a boost last week from Canadian astronaut, physician and professor of surgery Dave Williams. He announced the creation of the first scholarship in the McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering and named its first recipient.

The inaugural $1,000 Dave Williams Graduate Scholarship in Biomedical Engineering was presented to Kyla Sask, a PhD candidate in the McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering. Sask was selected for her academic and research accomplishments as well as her active community participation.

“Dr. Williams has stepped up in true can-do fashion for which astronauts and physicians are renown,” said John Brash, director of the McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering. “To have someone of his stature support students working on new medical devices and biomaterials is a strong indication of the need to develop more talent in this area. It is also an indication of the contributions this field can make towards improving our health and well-being.”

Sask's studies focus on the development of a biomaterial that resists blood clot formation in blood vessels that could be used for improving medical devices such as stents and artificial hearts.

When not absorbed in her studies, the A-level student sits as an elected member of the University Senate at McMaster, representing graduate students. She is a steering committee member of Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) and a volunteer with McMaster's Let's Talk Science program. Sask co-founded the Biomedical Engineering Graduate Association at McMaster and is a member of the Chemical Engineering Graduate Students Club. She has also been captain of the Graduate Student Association Baseball Team for the past four years.

“This scholarship is one way to help support students doing some amazing work that will improve all of our lives,” said Williams. “I'm also hoping that it will spur others to contribute to scholarships in this area and help support students like Kyla. She not only excels at her studies but goes out of her way to support other students, McMaster and her community.”

Williams is director of the McMaster Centre for Medical Robotics at St. Joseph's Hospital, a professor of surgery in McMaster's Faculty of Health Sciences, and a member of the McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering in medical robotics. He is the first Canadian to have lived and worked in space and in the ocean. He flew two space shuttle missions and was involved in several NEEMO missions relating to remote surgery. NEEMO is the world's only underwater research laboratory.

The Dave Williams Graduate Scholarship in Biomedical Engineering is presented annually to a full-time M.A.Sc. or PhD student enrolled in the McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering who has demonstrated academic and research excellence, leadership and citizenship. Nominations and applications are submitted to the Awards Committee of the School of Biomedical Engineering. It is comprised of faculty members from the School who make the final selection of the scholarship recipient.

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