MAE Seminar: Scalable Manufacturing Approaches for Biomimetic Engineered Tissues

Abstract: 

Medical implants play an important role in improving the quality of life of patients affected by injuries and diseases. Whereas implants are traditionally made of bioinert metals and polymers, recent multi-disciplinary scientific and technological advances enable the engineering of living tissue constructs using functional biomaterials and cells. This talk will summarize our recent efforts in the manufacturing of such biomimetic engineered tissue constructs for orthopaedic applications. Scaffold-based and scaffold-free approaches including a new ultrasound-assisted 3D bioprinting process will be discussed while highlighting the process design and process-structure-function characterization. Some key challenges and opportunities to accelerate the manufacturing scale-up and translation of engineered tissues will also be discussed. 

Biography:

Rohan Shirwaiker is an Associate Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering and Associate Director of the Comparative Medicine Institute at NC State University. He holds adjunct appointments in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. His research focuses on the engineering and optimization of manufacturing processes and quality monitoring techniques to create and assess tissue and organ substitutes for a variety of medical applications. His research has been supported by the NSF, NIH, DOD, and the industry. Shirwaiker is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award, and IISE Manufacturing & Design Outstanding Young Investigator Award. He currently serves on different boards and committees of IISE, SME, ASME, and ASTM.