James A. McEwen, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics, was appointed to the Order of Canada for his contributions to biomedical engineering, notably as an inventor and entrepreneur.
Dr. McEwen, a pioneer of the Canadian biomedical engineering industry, has over 220 patents and patent applications for medical devices. He invented the automatic surgical tourniquet system that has become standard in operating rooms worldwide. Automatic tourniquets protect patients from injury by improving safety, precision and speed in an estimated 18,000 surgical procedures performed around the world daily.
He is president of the Vancouver’s Western Clinical Engineering Ltd., and is a founder and director of MDDC Medical Device Development Centre, a not-for-profit organization that facilitates collaboration among companies, hospitals and universities to develop and evaluate new medical technologies. He has received a variety of major awards, including honorary degrees from UBC and SFU.
The Order of Canada is one of our nation’s highest civilian honours, and recognizes a lifetime of achievement and contribution to society.
Read the Vancouver Sun article on Dr. McEwen’s appointment to the Order of Canada.