Borjana Mikic is a mechanical engineer by training, with an expertise in orthopaedic biomechanics. Her research focuses on identifying the key factors that influence the establishment, maintenance and restoration of biomechanical function in the skeletal connective tissues.

In addition to her technical research, Mikic has very strong interests in the areas of undergraduate engineering education and the application of design-thinking methodologies to creative problem solving in many domains. Her decision to join the faculty of the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College was rooted in a strong desire to help create a new model for undergraduate engineering science education in which elements of the liberal arts are uniquely integrated into a rigorous engineering curriculum.

Before arriving at Smith, Mikic was on the faculty in the Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia. She has served as a reviewer for the National Institutes of Health as well as the National Science Foundation, and maintains a personal goal of working to increase the representation of women and other minority groups in the sciences and engineering. At Smith, she has served as the director of the Picker Engineering Program, inaugural director of the Sherrerd Center for Teaching and Learning, and the chair of Faculty Council in addition to working on numerous other elected and ad hoc committees since she arrived in 2001.

Selected Publications

Mikic B, Amadei E, Rossmeier K, Bierwert L (2010). Sex matters in the establishment of murine tendon composition and material properties during growth. Journal of Orthopaedic Research. 28(5): 631-8.

Mikic B, Rossmeier K, Bierwert L (2009). Sexual dimorphism in the effect of GDF6 deficiency on murine tendon. J Orthop Res 27(12): 1603-11.

Mikic B, Rossmeier K, Bierwert L (2009). Identification of a tendon phenotype in GDF6 deficient mice. Anatomical Record 292(3): 396-400.

Mikic B, Ferreria MP, Battaglia TC, Hunziker EB (2008). Accelerated hypertrophic chondrocyte kinetics in GDF7 deficient murine tibial growth plates. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 26(7): 986-90.

Mikic B, Entwistle R, Bierwert L (2008) The effect of GDF-7 deficiency on tail tendon phenotype in mice. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 26(6):834-839.

Selected Honors and Awards

• Sherrerd Prize for Distinguished Teaching, Smith College
• Orthopaedic Research Society Traveling Fellowship Award
• Selected Professions Fellowship, American Association of University Women
• DOD National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship
• Henry Ford II Scholar in Engineering, Stanford University
• Frederick E Terman Award in Engineering, Stanford University