King-Hay Yang - Hall of Fame 2024

King-Hay Yang, M.S. '81 and Ph.D. '85, was the Albert I. King Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Wayne State University. He was appointed assistant professor in 1988 and later served as director of the WSU Bioengineering Center. He is recognized worldwide for his work on human models used in conjunction with injury mechanism investigations related to motor vehicle crashes, orthopedic trauma, blast-induced injury and contact sports. A human brain model developed in his lab is on display at the Computer World of Smithsonian Institutes. He published a book, 18 book chapters and more than 180 peer-reviewed journal papers in his career. Yang also received numerous awards, including the Volvo Award from the International Society for the Study of Lumbar Spine, the Ralph Isbrandt Automotive Safety Engineering Award from SAE International, and Metro Detroit’s Innovator Award by Crain’s Detroit Business Report. He was a Fellow of the American Institute for Medicine and Biological Engineering, and of the Society of Automotive Engineers. He earned his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from National Taiwan University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Wayne State.