B. Wayne Bequette, Ph.D.

Each year the IEEE designates as Fellows  individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the electrical and electronics engineering profession. The CSS has two standing committees, with non-overlapping membership, that participate in the Fellow selection process. The chairs of these two committees, who must be IEEE Fellows and CSS members, are appointed by the BoG based on recommendations from the President-Elect and the Executive Committee. The chairs appoint the members of their committees.

The Fellow Evaluation Committee, which should have at least six members, evaluates the achievements of those nominees whose forms are forwarded to it by the their respective nominators. (Each nomination designates a relevant IEEE Society that should be asked to provide an evaluation of the candidate’s achievements.) The Fellow Evaluation Committee should be composed of IEEE Fellows whose joint expertise spans the breadth of technical specialties covered by the CSS. 

B Wayne Bequette was inducted for contributions to design and control of chemical and biomedical systems.

A multi-university research team led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct clinical trials of their closed-loop artificial pancreas for individuals with Type 1 diabetes.

The three-year study, funded by the NIH National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), will test the artificial pancreas system in a group of patients with Type 1 diabetes. The study will begin with 12 patients using the system in a hospital setting, and progress to a group of 18 patients using the system at home for two weeks.

Rensselaer Professor B. Wayne Bequette, who has been developing the closed-loop artificial pancreas for several years, is teaming with researchers from Stanford University, the University of Colorado, and the University of Virginia to advance the system. The artificial pancreas regulates blood glucose levels in patients by automatically adjusting and administering insulin to individuals with Type 1 diabetes, alleviating the need for frequent injections and blood tests.

“An artificial pancreas that automatically compensates for exercise and meals while maintaining desirable blood glucose concentrations, without the need for patient intervention, would greatly change the treatment of diabetes,” said Bequette, a professor in the Howard P. Isermann Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE) at Rensselaer, and associate director of the university’s Center for Automation Technologies and Systems (CATS). “Better, more precise control of blood sugar levels leads would lead to significant lifestyle improvements and a reduced chance of medical complications for most people with diabetes.”

Rensselaer CATS, a NYSTAR-supported Center for Advanced Technology, is pleased to announce the appointment of Prof. B. Wayne Bequette as its Associate Director of Process Technologies.  In this new role, Wayne will coordinate process modeling, optimization and control related research in the CATS, with applications to chemical, pharmaceutical, oil, gas and other systems.  Wayne will work with CATS faculty and staff to develop cohesive messages to prospective sponsors, form interdisciplinary teams to explore new funding opportunities, and strengthen and cultivate relationship with current and future industrial partners.

Dr. Wayne Bequette is a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. He received his B.S.Ch.E. from University of Arkansas in Fayettesville, and M.S. and Ph.D. from University of Texas at Austin. He worked for three years as a process engineer for American Petrofina between his undergraduate and graduate studies. From 1986 to 1987 he was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Texas and from 1987 to 1988 he was a Visiting Lecturer at the University of California at Davis. He joined the Rensselaer faculty in 1988 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1994 and Professor in 2000. Dr. Bequette was on sabbatical leave during the 1995-6 academic year, spending the fall semester at Merck Research Laboratories and the spring at Northwestern University.

Engineering researchers at Rensselaer are combining automation techniques from oil refining and other diverse areas to help create a closed-loop artificial pancreas. The device will automatically monitor blood sugar levels and administer insulin to patients with Type 1 diabetes, and aims to remove much of the guesswork for those living with the chronic disease.

For six years, Professor B. Wayne Bequette, a member of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, has been creating progressively more advanced computer control systems for a closed-loop artificial pancreas. His work stands to benefit the 15,000 children and 15,000 adults who are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes, every year in the United States.

“Every single person with Type 1 diabetes has a different response to insulin and a different response to meals,” Bequette said. “These responses also vary with the time of day, type of meal, stress level, and exercise. A successful automated system must be safe and reliable in spite of these widely varying responses.”

Bequette’s work is funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), along with the National Institutes of Health.