FAC ULT Y P ORTR AIT
Head, shoulders, knees...and Jack. A degree program as concentrated as biomedical engineering requires leadership with knowledge, skills and experience. Enter Jack Phlipot. While working at one of the leading manufacturers of orthopedic implants, Biomet in Warsaw, Phlipot wasn’t exactly looking for a new job. But through professor Jeff Walls, Tech MBA grad Phlipot received a call to gauge his interest in becoming an associate professor for the new biomedical engineering degree program. Having had previous teaching experience with Ivy Tech in addition to extensive corporate experience in the industry, it was an intriguing call. Phlipot received his BS in Manufacturing Technology in 1986 from Bowling Green State University. Two years later, he was working for Zimmer, Inc. in Warsaw as a project manager for hips and knees and development engineer in knee systems. After six years at Zimmer, Phlipot traded in hips and knees for a stint in automotive design engineering. In 1996, he moved back into
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Trends | Winter 2006
biomedical engineering at Biomet, where he excelled for 9½ years. While at Biomet, he worked in product development in hip and shoulder systems and handled marketing management duties. “Tech liked my background in biomed and marketing. When they approached me about the new degree program, I realized the need for a program with homegrown talent – students who were from the area and who would stay and work in the area,” stated Phlipot, who began his employment with Tech in August of 2005. The biomedical engineering program focuses on biomechanic skills – studying joints, muscles, bones and nerves to discover ways that artificial devices can be created to interface with or replace them.