Applying Old Technology to Cutting-Edge Science
Wet-lay Process Could Accelerate Pace of Tissue Engineering Research
Vinoy Thomas Tissue engineering is a transformative branch of regenerative medicine —a cutting-edge field that has the potential to revolutionize the future of healthcare.
A team of researchers in the UAB Department of Materials Science and Engineering hopes to accelerate the pace of that high-tech research through the application of a decades-old process—one that has roots in centuries-old technology.
Vinoy Thomas, Ph.D., an assistant professor of materials science and engineering, says that a process known as “wet-lay process for nonwovens,” which formerly has been utilized by textile and paper industries, can be used to create scaffolds for tissue engineering. His team’s research, recently published in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, shows several advantages over other fibrous mesh-making technologies currently in use.
“Although this process is in its infancy with regard to tissue engineering,” Thomas says. “it shows promise in its ability to rapidly produce fibrous membranes of any type of fiber in a scalable and tunable fashion.”
BME Department again Ranks 4th in NIH Funding
For the second year in a row, the UAB Department of Biomedical Engineering, a joint department in the School of Medicine and School of Engineering, ranked fourth in the nation in the amount of funding it received from the National Institutes of Health.
The BME department brought in $4,859,502 in NIH grant funding in 2017, up more than $500,000 from the previous year. The increase was due in large part to a pair of substantial grants that went to department chair Jianyi ‘Jay’ Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., and vice chair and professor Gangjian ‘GQ’ Qin, M.D.
“As a department, we now have 11 NIH R01 and one U01 grants.” said Zhang, who also holds the Michael and Gillian Welch Endowed Chair of Engineering Leadership. “The department’s receipt of NIH funds in 2017 was largely the result of BME faculty winning new NIH R01 grants.”
The rankings are published by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, which lists all NIH funding for U.S. medical schools. The joint BME departments of Stanford, Johns Hopkins, and Oregon Health & Science University, ranked first, second, and third, respectively. The UAB BME Department is a joint department in the UAB Schools of Engineering and Medicine.
Moradi Named UAB's Grand Challenge Project Manager
Mechanical engineering professor and EITD director Lee Moradi is the project manager for UAB's Grand Challenge initiative.Lee Moradi, Ph.D., is no stranger to dreaming big.
When he came to UAB in 1996, he came with an idea: to build an engineering organization that was among the best in the United States. In the past 22 years, that dream of Moradi’s came true with the creation and success of Engineering and Innovative Technology Development. EITD has become one of the nation’s leading developers in cold stowage hardware for use in microgravity and exploration, and its GLACIER refrigeration system, MERLIN thermal carrier and Polar minus-80 degrees Celsius freezer are used aboard the International Space Station.
Moradi, mechanical engineering professor and EITD director, said its success is due entirely to the employees and managers who are committed to the project. The UAB team “is the best I have seen in my 40-year career,” he said.
The EITD is just one big idea on campus that grew into reality, and now, UAB wants to give others the opportunity to realize their dreams.
Through UAB’s Grand Challenge initiative, any student, faculty or staff member university-wide can submit a proposal to fix a large, complex and multi-faceted issue — one that requires a combination of technologies, treatments, approaches and policies that a large institution such as UAB can provide to find a solution that will positively impact a large number of people.
Read more in the UAB Reporter.
Faculty Honors and Awards Demonstrate Sustained Commitment to Excellence
This spring, several School of Engineering faculty members received professional honors. Recipients included Timothy Wick, Ph.D., and Joel Berry, Ph.D., who each received awards from the UAB Office of the Provost, as well as Amber Genau, who received the TMS Young Leaders International Scholar Award.
“No school achieves greatness without faculty members who are committed to excellence,” says School of Engineering Dean Iwan Alexander, Ph.D. “I congratulate these three faculty members who have demonstrated strong commitments to leadership, innovation and team-building in our classrooms and laboratories.”
Each of the Provost’s Awards comes with a cash prize of $1,000. They will be formally presented on Friday, April 13 at 9 A.M. in Bartow Arena.
