The heart was so tiny, no bigger than a plum. There in the operating room at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, UCF Pegasus Professor Alain Kassab watched in awe as a team of surgeons went to work, saving a life that had just begun. Kassab had collaborated for years on the research behind the procedure with William DeCampli, the hospital\u2019s chief of pediatric cardiac surgery and professor of surgery at UCF. They\u2019d explored drawings, analyzed the math and experimented with models in UCF labs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to collect data and use simulation,\u201d Kassab says, \u201cbut to see it all come down to a little heart, with my own eyes, it\u2019s hard to describe.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the surface, it might seem that Kassab and DeCampli come from different worlds. One is a pediatric heart surgeon. The other works in UCF\u2019s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Separately, they\u2019re highly respected in their spheres of influence. Together, they\u2019re finding ways to keep hearts beating in the world we share.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m here at UCF: for the collaboration and access to technology<\/a>,\u201d says DeCampli, who could literally be practicing anywhere. \u201cTo render the best care possible for children and adults with heart disease, one can no longer do this alone.\u201d<\/p>\n