Start a conversation with Pine resident Philip LeDuc, and you’re likely to discuss something like the Steelers’ quarterback situation.
Then ask him about his work.
As a professor in Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, LeDuc joins his students and colleagues in conducting research that has the potential to revolutionize the way medical practitioners reach diagnoses.
In fact, his pioneering studies linking engineering with biology earned him a fellowship in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, with his induction taking place Sept. 21.
The honor, which is fairly uncommon for mechanical engineers, puts him on a list with Thomas Edison and 150 years’ worth of other groundbreaking luminaries.
Despite the heady company, LeDuc has a knack for coming across as down to earth.
“The way I describe my research is that in mechanical engineering, we typically think about planes, trains and automobiles, the fundamentals,” LeDuc said, referencing the 1987 comedy beloved by boomers, Gen Xers and younger folks who enjoy older films.
“Over time, I figured out that it’s the same thing now, except planes, trains and automobiles are just systems. They’re generalized systems that we apply mechanical engineering tools to,” he explained.
Specifically, he applies such tools to the seemingly dissimilar fields of biology and nature, which in turn can help lead to advances in medicine.
Of particular interest to sports fans would be how to address a concussion.
“It’s an accumulation of repeated hits, which is force, and it changes the way biology, which is neurons, functions,” LeDuc said about the effect on nerve cells in the brain. “It’s a system that hasn’t optimized itself to respond.”
By contrast, a plant called Mimosa pudica evolved to the point where the touching of its leaves, perhaps by a predatory insect or curious human, prompts them to fold and droop before reopening a few minutes later. A gust of wind, though, produces no such changes.
In studying the plant’s differing reactions, LeDuc seeks insight into how blows to the head can impact people’s brains in various ways, with the potential result of diagnosticians zeroing in on personalized approaches toward a cure.
“When each one of us gets a concussion, what do we respond to better, to basically be able to treat the concussion better? That’s our long-term goal,” he said. “I don’t want to give someone the same kind of treatment whose neural function hasn’t changed, versus someone whose has.”
His early interest in mechanical systems — “I used to like to take apart lawn mowers to try to learn to build go-karts” — juxtaposed a growing fascination with what occurs in nature.
“I remember taking this biology class when I was in eighth grade, and I literally had to study a square foot, for a month, of grass. They made you go in and document all the bugs and everything,” he recalled. “And I think that’s kind of when I fell in love with both of these areas, this whole idea of biology, including medicine, and mechanical engineering.”
He began investigating the parallels while working on his doctorate at Johns Hopkins University, joined by a similarly inquisitive faculty member.
“We didn’t really know what we were doing,” LeDuc acknowledged. “But I have found throughout the course of my life that the less I actually know about something, the more interested I am to follow it.”
A recent interest is collaborating on some startup companies to put the fruits of research into practice, including what he calls “wearable electronics.”
“Think of a Band Aid that can take your temperature and heart rate and everything else,” he said. “Let’s say you have a group of soldiers and all of a sudden they start getting attacked, and three of them go down. The current way of testing them is to have a 30-pound device that basically takes their vitals.”
His Point Breeze-based startup is testing a product that weighs 12 ounces and has the ability to emit a data-carrying signal.
“You can send it back halfway across the world for someone to monitor them, so they can say, ‘This person needs to get out. These two people, they’re OK,’” he explained.
A CMU faculty member since 2002, LeDuc’s right-brained inclinations are countered by the creative side of his wife, Rachel, who co-owns LDI DanceWorks in Pine.
“I come home and I hear about dance,” he said, “which is fine.”
Discussing who should start at quarterback for Pittsburgh would be good, too.
Harry Funk is a TribLive news editor, specifically serving as editor of the Hampton, North Allegheny, North Hills, Pine Creek and Bethel Park journals. A professional journalist since 1985, he joined TribLive in 2022. You can contact Harry at [email protected].
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