Dr. Savio Woo has turned 70 and his family, friends and students have gathered to help him celebrating this important milestone. The birthday celebrations began at the 2011 ASME Summer Bioengineering Conference at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, PA. In honor of Dr. Woo’s 70th birthday, Drs. Jennifer Wayne and David Vorp organized a special symposium to highlight the four major areas of Dr. Woo’s career contribution: Tissue Mechanics, Robotics to Analyze Joint Stability, Modeling of Tendons & Ligaments as well as Functional Tissue Engineering for Healing of Tendons and Ligaments. After the symposia, about 80 of Dr. Woo’s students, fellows and good friends gathered at the nearby Christian W. Klay Winery for a birthday social. Attendees were treated with tasting of local wines and hors d’oeuvres. There were also a series of toasts and congratulatory remarks made by Drs. Zong-Ming Li, Matthew Fisher, Harvey Borovetz, David Butler, Sanjeev Shroff, Cy Frank, T.K. Hung, Bob Nerem, Al Banes, Kai-Nan An and Rui Liang.
Then in early July, Professor Giuliano Cerulli honored Dr. Woo’s birthday with a special dinner with a group of special friends and colleagues in Perugia/Assisi, Italy.
Between July 22-25, Dr. Woo’s immediate family, extended family and friends of forty or more years gathered in San Francisco, CA, for three memorable days, to celebrate with Dr. and Mrs. Woo. The weekend celebration, planned by Mrs. Woo, their daughter and son-in-law, Kirstin and Adam, and son, Jonathan, included a welcome dinner at Il Cane Rosso on Friday evening. The next day started off with a special breakfast buffet followed by a nature walk in the Muir Woods and a luncheon at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge. That evening a special Birthday dinner was held at R&G Lounge where Dr. Woo’s daughter presented him with a beautifully handmade book of toasts from family and friends and a birthday cake, which she also designed. The third day’s events included a Sunday Brunch, a Bridge to Bridge Bay Cruise and a Farewell Dinner at the Waterfront Restaurant. A wonderful time was had by all.
The birthday celebrations continued in August at the World Association for Chinese Biomedical Engineers (WACBE) 5th World Congress on Bioengineering. Drs. Fong-Chin Su, Arthur Mak, Cheng-Kung Cheng and Zong-Ming Li organized a special symposium in his honor. Guest speakers included Drs. Ching-Jen Wang, Chih-Hwa Chen, Hung- Mann Lee, Fong-Chin Su, Arthur Mak, and James Goh. The symposium was followed by a welcome reception where a three-decker cake was presented and approximately 1,000 attendees sang Happy Birthday to Dr. Woo in three different languages. In addition, Dr. Woo enjoyed a special luncheon with his former Taiwan Fellows, Drs. Chih-Hwa Chen, Yin- Chih Fu and Shanling Hsu at the Shangri-La Far Eastern Plaza Hotel.
In October, Dr. and Mrs. Woo joined family and friends in Shanghai, China for another birthday celebration at Nanling Restaurant. This special dinner was organized by Mrs. Shu-Lee Chow (Dr. Woo’s sister). Everyone enjoyed a truly delicious meal that included many local delicacies and concluded with a beautiful birthday cake.
Dr. and Mrs. Woo are very touched by the large number of colleagues, fellows and students from all over the world who took time to celebrate Dr. Woo’s 70th Birthday with them.
In Celebration of Dr. Woo's 70th Birthday
On behalf of the Co-Editors, I am delighted to announce the publication of a new book entitled “Flow of a Long River – Tributes to Savio L-Y Woo on His 70th Birthday”. This book is a compilation of tributes to Professor Woo, who has impacted the field of biomedical engineering and musculoskeletal science for four decades through his research, his guidance and mentorships, his friendships, and his love for the field, family, and friends.
We are very grateful for the generous support of ASIAM Institute. This wonderful book was published by World Scientific Publishing (WSP) and can be purchased on the WSP website or Amazon.com.
Dr. Zong-Ming Li, Co-Editor