Steven Koenig, a UNH alum and Endowed Chair of Cardiac Implant Science in the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute (CII) at the University of Louisville (UofL), was recently honored with the UofL School of Medicine’s Career Achievement in Research Award.
Koenig was awarded this honor due to his achievements leading the UofL Advanced Heart Failure Research Program (AHFR), where he and his team develop and test mechanical circulatory support devices for the treatment of end-stage heart failure.
“Through our AHFR program, we’ve collectively shared many extraordinary successes together (and a few too many failures too),” says Koenig.
After receiving a BS and MS in electrical engineering at UNH, a doctorate in biomedical engineering at both the University of Texas and USAF at Brooks Air Force Base, Koenig started his 27-plus year career at UofL. He went on to make award-winning contributions as lead of AHFR and helped the university bring in $55.4 million across 94 grants and contracts to date. Over his career, Koenig helped secure 53 industry partnerships, generated 125 publications, secured 18 patents and invention disclosures, and helped advance 14 cardiovascular devices from the pre-clinical arena into clinical use.
Koenig says his 5-plus years at UNH were the best period of his life and have had a long-lasting impact on the person he is today.
“I am grateful for the many outstanding UNH engineering faculty, staff and students that shared their enthusiasm, passion, expertise and experience with us,” says Koenig. “I’m also thankful for their open-door office visits along with their compassion, patience, and understanding in helping navigate our rigorous electrical engineering curriculum, graduate mentorship and career advising.”
Koenig advises that current UNH students preparing for their career or graduate school to embrace life-long learning as it doesn’t culminate with graduation and degree certificates.
“The more you learn the more you realize how little you may think you know,” he says. “I pursued graduate education because with each degree I felt less intelligent and ill-prepared with knowledge for an engineering career. Ultimately, I continue to strive to learn something new each and every day.”
