Will Newman

The Department of Bioengineering at The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is proud to welcome Will Newman in the role of Teaching Assistant Professor. Having earned his Ph.D. under bioengineering professor Mike Insana, Newman has a passion for molding young minds and an expertise in a wide array of bioengineering topics, including imaging and machine learning. His addition cements Bioengineering at Illinois' commitment to the next generation of scholars.

Tell us a little about your background.

I attended Rhodes College in Memphis, TN where I studied physics and computer science. While I was there, I worked with one of my physics professors on imaging the acoustic properties of brain tissue. I became fascinated with the connection between physics and biomedical imaging, leading me to pursue a Ph.D. in Bioengineering at Illinois with professor Mike Insana.  My dissertation focused on imaging the material properties of soft tissues using a combination of machine-learning and solid mechanics principles. After I graduated in 2025, I spent a year as an adjunct lecturer in the department where I taught a course on linear algebra and data science.

What aspects of Bioengineering at Illinois made this the right place for your next chapter?

My area of interest aligns well with the course offerings in BIOE, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. With such a strong emphasis on biomedical imaging and computing, it’s a great fit for what I want to teach and study. Also, I loved the fact that the department encourages teaching faculty to engage in research. I plan on developing a small technical research group with a heavy focus on undergraduate research.

What do you enjoy about teaching?

I really like interacting with the students. I love learning about what their interests are and finding ways to incorporate that into my teaching. I think that learning hard things is more fun when it resonates with something that you’re passionate about.

What classes are you most excited to teach?

I will be teaching BIOE 210 this fall and BIOE 580 in the spring. I am also teaching the BIC capstone course both semesters. I am excited to teach each of these but am particularly excited about 580: Foundations of Image Science. It is a course that is deeply fundamental to all imaging research.  

What will be the subject of your research?

My research will be focused on imaging the material properties of soft tissues using ultrasound. Material properties are altered in diseased tissues like fibrotic, cancerous or inflamed tissue. The hope is that high-quality, reproducible images of properties like the Young’s modulus and viscosity could be used to study disease progression and better connect the imaging field with mechanobiology.  The immediate goal of the research will be to closely study the physics of image formation to come up with strategies for data collection in clinical settings. 

What are some other projects you’d like to tackle in the future, either classes you’d like to teach or research you’d like to do?

When I first arrived at Illinois, I was the Teaching Assistant for a course that is no longer offered. This course focused on the fundamentals of scientific coding for first-year students. I think a class that can prime students for the computational demands of future courses could help to ease tensions around learning to code. I would also love to teach a course on finite-element analysis, specifically applied to problems in biomechanics and biomedical imaging.

In terms of research, I would eventually like to use magnetic resonance imaging to image material properties. All that is required for imaging is measurements of force and displacement, so the general technique is modality independent. Comparing material property images from ultrasound and MRI could help clarify the trade-offs between modalities to support better physician guidance.

What are some other fun facts about yourself?

I was a Division III football player at Rhodes (roll Lynx!) and I have a Giant Schnauzer named Gracie.