Skin wounds, particularly burns, affect a large population each year. The injury response to skin wounds depends both of the severity of the wound and the animal affected. The typical organismic response to an injury at the organ‐scale is cell‐mediated wound contraction and synthesis of nonphysiologic tissue (scar); this process is termed repair. Regeneration of lost or damaged tissue describes a process marked by synthesis of physiologic (normal, functional) tissue in the wound site. With increasing organism development, wound closure depends increasingly less on regeneration and correspondingly more on contraction and scar formation. A variety of tissue engineering constructs have been utilized to prevent contraction and scar formation and induce regeneration following skin wounds. Experimental experience has identified a number of specific criteria to maximize the bioactivity of such a graft, leading to maximal regeneration. These criteria as well as the morphology, functionality, and regenerative capacity of the three tissues that comprise skin will be detailed. In addition to the description of the organismic response to skin injuries and the current and historical clinical treatments for such injuries, five specific devices developed to treat severe skin injuries, including the design and manufacture of each device as well as the attendant experimental and clinical successes, will be detailed.