Thomas Withrow

Plainfield High School – Class of 1994

Education and Humanities

Thomas Withrow attended Harvard University where he received his S.B in Biomedical Engineering in June 2000.

He received his M.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering in December 2001, a M.S.E in Mechanical Engineering in December 2002 and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering in December 2005 from the University of Michigan. His Ph.D., thesis was titled “Anterior Cruciate Ligament Stain: An Investigation of Muscular and Positional Constraints in a Cadaveric Impact Model.”

Withrow served as the Assistant Professor of the Practice from August 2009 till June 2016 at Vanderbilt University. Currently he serves as Assistant Dean for Design for the Vanderbilt School of Engineering and Associate Professor of the Practice, both in the School of Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering.

In those roles he leads the undergraduate engineering students design curriculum with emphasis on the mechanics, design and fabrication.

For the past few years he had led the capstone design curriculum across the school of engineering that has culminated in the largest VUSE showcase of the undergraduate engineers-Design Day-the last day of spring term.

Withrow’s latest medical research projects with MED and the CAOS labs include the design, development and fabrication of small, bone mounted, automated image-guided micro stereotactic frames for performing precision intracranial milling and drilling.

His awards received include: The Eagle Scout in the Boys Scouts of America; The Arnold Horween Scholar-Athlete Award at Harvard University; Winthrop House Community Service Award; Winner of the American Orthopaedic Society of Sports Medicine Excellence in Research Award, and many others.

He has also served on several community boards including serving as the Site Leader for the Detroit Project and a member of the ASEE, IEEE and the past director of the BMES.