Building an entirely new academic program has its benefits. Sure, some parts of the job can be difficult – handling everything from faculty searches to office supply orders is enough to make anyone’s head spin. But there’s a reason a clean slate is so valuable: you can write anything you want on it.

Metin Akay, chair of the Cullen College’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, recently served as a keynote speaker at the first Middle East Conference on Biomedical Engineering.

Just weeks into his post as John S. Dunn Distinguished Professor and founding chair of the University of Houston Department of Biomedical Engineering, Metin Akay is already being recognized.

He has been selected and will be inducted next month into two prestigious engineering and science organizations—the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).