Rory Cooper, who has been given a slew of awards over the years for his work in rehabilitation sciences, found himself at the White House last week, where President Joe Biden bestowed on him the nation’s highest honor for technological achievement.

Cooper is founding director of Pitt’s Human Engineering Research Laboratories and, since 2021, assistant vice chancellor for research for STEM-health sciences collaborations.

He was among several people Biden presented the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to on Oct. 24. On Oct. 26, Cooper, who holds nine U.S. patents and has nine more pending, also was inducted into the 50th class of the National Inventors Hall of Fame at a gala in Washington, D.C.

The National Medal of Technology and Innovation award announcement said Cooper has empowered the lives of millions of Americans. “By inventing and developing cutting-edge wheelchair technologies and mobility devices, cultivating the next generation of rehabilitation engineers and championing wounded veterans and students with disabilities, he moves us closer to being a nation that is accessible for all.”

Cooper has used a wheelchair since an accident in 1980, when he was serving in the Army, left him paralyzed from the waist down.

At the ceremony, Biden said to the honorees: “You are all so damn impressive. You’re literally changing the world for better.”

He said the work done by the scientists helps us “remember what America is all about — possibilities. Anything’s possible if we put our minds to it. And with you all, you have incredible minds. Thank you for what you’ve done so far. You’ve saved people’s lives, you’ve changed the way we look at the world and you’ve made it better. I don’t know how we could ask for anything more.”

“We’re determined to return great science to America,” Biden said. “We used to invest 2 percent of our GDP in science and technology and now we invest .7 percent.”