Board

Mohammad F. Kiani, Ph.D., F.A.H.A., Board Chair

Dr. Kiani is a co-founder of Engineering World Health. He has an academic background in biomedical and electrical engineering and has received a number of scholarly research and teaching awards. Dr. Kiani is a recognized expert in the field of biomedical engineering research and education and is currently a professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, with a joint appointment in the Department of Radiation Oncology, at Temple University.

Catherine Peck, C.P.A. President and Treasurer

Cathy, a founding board member of Engineering World Health, has served EWH in various capacities from Treasurer to President. She brings more than 25 years of business and accounting experience to EWH as well as extensive non-profit service—both professionally and as a volunteer. Cathy served the Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis as board member and Finance Committee Chair. Formerly employed by Perry-Smith & Co and by Coopers & Lybrand (PricewaterhouseCoopers) she is now self-employed as a CPA/consultant and business manager.

Robert A. Malkin, Ph.D., P.E.

A co-founder of EWH, Bob is now Professor of the Practice of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University, North Carolina. Bob also directs the EWH-Duke Summer Institute Program. Previously, Dr. Malkin was the Herbert Herff Professor of Biomedical Engineering at The Joint Biomedical Program at the University of Memphis, Tennessee and The University of Tennessee. Before moving to Tennessee, Dr. Malkin was a professor of Electrical Engineering at The City College of New York and a member of the graduate faculty at The City University of New York and a research associate at Columbia University. Dr. Malkin received his MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Duke University in 1991 and 1993, respectively. Prior to attending graduate school, Dr. Malkin taught English in Thailand, worked at EM Microelectronics in Switzerland designing integrated circuits, worked for Cordis Corporation designing pacemakers and worked for Sarns Incorporated designing heart lung machines. Dr Malkin received the BS degree in Electrical Engineering from The University of Michigan in 1984. Dr. Malkin is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Dr. Malkin serves as an expert advisor to the World Health Organization’s Advisory Group on Healthcare Technology, Advisory Group on Innovative Technologies and serves on the World Health Organization’s subcommittee on medical equipment donations.

Brian Orol, C.F.P.

Brian Orol is a founding board member of Engineering World Health. He has been a certified financial planner since 1994 and is currently president of Strategic Wealth Management in Raleigh, North Carolina. Brian specializes in comprehensive wealth management, stock options, 401(k) rollovers, college funding, retirement planning and elder care issues, and he brings this financial expertise to the board of EWH.

Corinna E. Lathan, Ph.D., P.E.

Dr. Lathan is Founder and CEO of AnthroTronix, Inc., a biomedical engineering R and D company. Her work on technology for children with disabilities has been featured in Forbes, Time, and the New Yorker magazines as well as led to such distinctions as Maryland's "Top Innovator of the Year," and one of MIT Technology Review Magazine's "Top 100 World Innovators.” She has also been named a Technology Pioneer and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Dr. Lathan is actively involved in educational outreach programs that empower women and minorities in engineering and science including the FIRST and VEX robotics programs. Dr. Lathan received her B.A. from Swarthmore College, and an S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from MIT.

Staff

Engineering World Health employs few staff and also depends upon volunteers from the local student community. Please inquire at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for details.

Melissa Driver Beard, M.P.A., Executive Director and CEO

Melissa has held positions at the UN, American Lung Association, American Cancer Society, and Prevent Blindness NC. Most recently, she was the executive director of NC AWWA-WEA, an organization with over 3,500 water and wastewater management professionals that is dedicated to providing clean water to improve public health and protect the environment. She also spent six years as the executive director of the North Carolina Society of Surveyors coordinating large events with surveyors and engineers. Her experience includes 15 years of work for nonprofits, along with skills in five languages, which makes her a perfect choice to head our organization.

Billy Teninty, C.B.E.T., Biomedical Engineering Training Coordinator

Billy joined the EWH team in fall 2009. He directed International Aid’s successful Medical Equipment Training (MET) program in developing nations for over a decade and is a certified biomedical equipment technician by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). Billy is acutely aware of the problems overseas hospitals face with medical equipment, having traveled extensively in developing countries to install and repair medical and x-ray equipment. He has first hand experience training nationals from Albania, Cameroon, Dem. Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kosovo, Liberia, Madagascar, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Justin Cooper, M.S.E., Technology Development

Justin is responsible for much of the technology design work at EWH, including the Projects that Matter and kits programs. He designed and constructed a successful remote-control robot to allow wheelchair users to play miniature golf as fulfillment of his Master’s thesis requirements in biomedical engineering at Tulane. Justin has worked with medical missions in Haiti and was the founding president of the Tulane chapter of Engineering World Health. He is the point person for EWH chapters, EWH Kits, and the EWH Design Competition.