Two PhD candidates on laser micro-processing of polymeric medical devices

The manufacturing and surface integrity associated with the micro processing of polymers for medical devices is a scientific and technical challenge. The European Marie Sklodowska-Curie ITN research project SIMPPER MedDev address these challenges and involves a consortium of 5 leading European universities, 10 industry partners who manufacture medical devices, and an orthopaedics hospital.

We are looking for two PhD-students to strengthen our research team, who will work on laser-based manufacturing for medical devices. You will be part of a cohort of 12 international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral early stage researchers and will be trained in personal, professional, academic, technical and intellectual skills.

The PhD projects:

1. Laser micro-printing of biomedical multi-materials

Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) is an innovative Additive Manufacturing process in which a small volume (e.g. 5 femtolitre) of a thin donor film is transferred to a substrate via a laser beam. In this project you will study the fundamentals of, and develop strategies to, combining metals and polymers in LIFT is crucial for medical devices, as is LIFT of pure metals directly onto curved polymers with high mutual adhesion. These challenges need to be overcome to obtain high mechanical stability, reproducibility and good adhesion for medical devices.

2. Laser induced periodic surface structures of polymers

Laser processing with ultrashort pulses (in the fs and ps regime) allows for contactless structuring of surfaces on the micrometre and nanometre scale to modify (functionalise) surfaces. While fundamentals of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on polymers is not yet fully understood. In this project you will establish the knowledge needed to process this class of materials. You will also study the laser-induced chemical and geometric modifications of the polymer and the resulting effects on bio-com­pa­tibility.