gold medal award

Engineering New Wonders

Professor Dustin Tyler is restoring feelings and creating hope.

America has seen him on 60 Minutes and splashed across the pages of National Geographic Magazine. The work of Dustin Tyler, PhD ’99, is indeed showcase worthy as it changes lives with advanced prosthetics. But that’s only part of the story.

Tyler is a popular lecturer and lab leader in the Case School of Engineering, where he’s the Kent H. Smith II Professor of Biomedical Engineering. He’s a prominent researcher at the Cleveland VA Medical Center, where he works with doctors at the cutting edge of rehabilitation. His innovations mounting, he was elected to the National Academy of Inventors in 2022.

In recognition of the life-changing impact of his science and the honor he brings to Case, Tyler is to receive the Gold Medal at Homecoming 2023, the highest honor bestowed annually by the Case Alumni Association.

Upon hearing the news, he expressed surprise, humility, and some trepidation.

“There are so many unbelievable people who have graduated from this university. It’s a lot of pressure,” he laughed, “in a good way.”

In his quest to change the world, he’s just getting started.

Tyler directs the university’s fledgling Human Fusions Institute, which aims to combine CWRU’s historic strengths in medicine and engineering to advance neural engineering into new realms. Guided by his groundbreaking work restoring a sense of touch in people who have lost limbs, he sees applications for remote surgery, exploration, even space travel.

And he thinks Case is just the place to advance such wonders.

“We have 50 years of experience in biomedical engineering defining humans and technology,” Tyler said. “That knowledge we’re building on puts us in a unique position in the world to be the best, to really lead.”

He arrived as a graduate student nearly 30 years ago and fell into the collaborative spirit. He credits his wife, Joyce, an occupational therapist, with helping him to see the human impact of engineering. He thanks their two children, Ryan and Linnea–a student in the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing–for cheering him on. He finds teaching fulfilling, academia liberating.

“I can think 10 years into the future,” he said. “Having that horizon allows me to dream about things like the Human Fusions Institute. It’s going to take a bit longer to get there, but it’s going to change the world.”

We get to watch it happen.

The awards program begins at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, in Strosacker Auditorium. All are welcome. To register for the awards program and all Homecoming 2023 events, please go to casealumni.org/homecoming/.

“Having that horizon allows me to dream about things like the Human Fusions Institute. It’s going to take a bit longer to get there, but it’s going to change the world.”

— Dustin Tyler