Yuan-Cheng "Bert" Fung (September 15, 1919 – December 15, 2019) was a Chinese-American bioengineer and writer. He is regarded as a founding figure of bioengineering, tissue engineering, and the "Founder of Modern Biomechanics".[1]

Yuan-Cheng Fung
馮元楨
Born(1919-09-15)September 15, 1919
DiedDecember 15, 2019(2019-12-15) (aged 100)
NationalityChinese-American
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma materNational Central University
California Institute of Technology
Known forBioengineering
Biomechanics
SpouseLuna Yu Hsien-Shih
Children2
Awardsvon Karman Medal (1976)
Otto Laporte Award (1977)
Timoshenko Medal (1991)
National Medal of Science (2000)
Jordan Allen Medal (1991)
Russ Prize (2007)
Scientific career
FieldsBioengineering
Biomechanics
InstitutionsCalifornia Institute of Technology
UC San Diego
Doctoral advisorErnest Sechler

Biography

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Fung was born in Jiangsu Province, China in 1919. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1941 and a master's degree in 1943 from the National Central University (later renamed Nanjing University in mainland China and reinstated in Taiwan), and earned a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1948. Fung was Professor Emeritus and Research Engineer at the University of California San Diego. He published prominent texts along with Pin Tong who was then at Hong Kong University of Science & Technology. Fung died at Jacobs Medical Center in San Diego, California, aged 100, on December 15, 2019.[2][3]

Fung was married to Luna Yu Hsien-Shih, a former mathematician and cofounder of the UC San Diego International Center, until her death in 2017. The couple raised two children.[4]

Research

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He is the author of numerous books including Foundations of Solid Mechanics, Continuum Mechanics, and a series of books on Biomechanics. He is also one of the principal founders of the Journal of Biomechanics and was a past chair of the ASME International Applied Mechanics Division. In 1972, Fung established the Biomechanics Symposium under the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. This biannual summer meeting, first held at the Georgia Institute of Technology, became the annual Summer Bioengineering Conference. Fung and colleagues were also the first to recognize the importance of residual stress on arterial mechanical behavior.[5]

Fung's Law

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Fung's famous exponential strain constitutive equation for preconditioned soft tissues is

 

with

 

quadratic forms of Green-Lagrange strains   and  ,   and   material constants.[6]   is a strain energy function per volume unit, which is the mechanical strain energy for a given temperature. Materials that follow this law are known as Fung-elastic.[7]

Honors and awards

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Fung was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences (1993),[13] the National Academy of Engineering (1979),[14] the Institute of Medicine (1991),[15] the Academia Sinica (1968),[16] and was a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (1994 election).

References

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  1. ^ YC “Bert” Fung: The Father of Modern Biomechanics (pdf) Archived 2007-12-02 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Robbins, Gary (18 December 2019). "UC San Diego's Y.C. Fung, the lifesaving 'father of biomechanics', dies at 100". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  3. ^ Chiang, Yi-ching; Hsu, Phoenix (27 December 2019). "Father of biomechanics Fung Yuan-Cheng dies at 100". Central News Agency. Retrieved 28 December 2019. Republished as: "'Father of biomechanics' has passed away at 100". Taipei Times. 28 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  4. ^ "YUAN-CHENG B. FUNG 1919-2019". Memorial Tributes. 23. National Academy of Engineering.
  5. ^ Chuong,C.J. and Y.C. Fung (1986). "On Residual Stress in Arteries". Journal of Biomechanical Engineering. 108 (2): 189–192. doi:10.1115/1.3138600. PMID 3079517. S2CID 46231605.
  6. ^ Fung, Y.-C. (1993). Biomechanics: Mechanical Properties of Living Tissues. New York: Springer-Verlag. p. 568. ISBN 978-0-387-97947-2.
  7. ^ Humphrey, Jay D. (2003). The Royal Society (ed.). "Continuum biomechanics of soft biological tissues". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A. 459 (2029): 3–43. Bibcode:2003RSPSA.459....3H. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.729.5207. doi:10.1098/rspa.2002.1060. S2CID 108637580.
  8. ^ WORCESTER REED WARNER MEDAL RECIPIENTS
  9. ^ The International Society of Biorheology: Yuan-Cheng Fung, 1986 Recipient of the Jean-Leonard-Marie Poiseuille Award
  10. ^ MELVILLE MEDAL RECIPIENTS
  11. ^ Recipient of the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize
  12. ^ UCSD Chancellor's Announcement of 2016 Revelle Medalists
  13. ^ "Yuan-Cheng B. Fung". United States National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  14. ^ "Professor Yuan-Cheng B. Fung". United States National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  15. ^ "Yuan-Cheng B. Fung". United States National Academy of Medicine. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  16. ^ "Yuan-Cheng Fung". Academia Sinica. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
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