Introduction
Hi, my name is Negin Kamyar and I am a 2nd
year PhD student at University of Manchester. I am doing my PhD in Biomedical
materials and I am a part of Bio-Active Materials group headed by Dr. Jonny
Blaker.
So, about my background - I did my bachelor’s
in biomedical engineering in Azad Tehran University. During my bachelor’s, I
worked on fabrication of skin patches for wound healing. As I was getting to
know my research interest more and more in the biomedical field, I became more passionate
to discover new things in my field. To further progress and improve in my field,
I decided to apply to University of Manchester to study my Master’s. I
successfully got accepted to study Biomaterials at University of Manchester and
I graduated with distinction. During my master’s project I worked on the fabrication
of three-dimensional (3-D) materials composed of polymers and two-dimensional
(2-D) materials for bone regeneration. Since I was very excited about my master’s
project, I decided to start my PhD in Biomedical Material and continue my
research with more passion and time. My research is focused on the fabrication
of 3-D bone implants which can be degraded over time so that the body’s new
tissue can replace the degraded implant. These materials can be used for bone
fractures and patients with osteoporosis.
So far, my PhD has been great. I published
one paper in the ACS applied nanomaterials journal and I also presented my work
to one of the biggest world conferences “Material Research Society (MRS)” in
Boston. Participation in this conference gave me the chance to meet a lot of
researchers around the world and learn new things in my field and share my
research with them. I am looking forward to new achievements and opportunities
during my PhD research.
In Depth…
When I was a child, I was always very keen on
studying medicine in the future due to having a strong feeling and passion for
helping people’s lives. My main inspiration in my life was my family who have always
supported me to follow my dreams, since I was a child, and still support me
today. While studying at school I was very enthusiastic about biomedical science
and my parents bought me many science related books which helped me to be sure that
it was what I wanted to do. I remember, when I was in the final year of high
school, I met one of our family friends, who was doing research on heart stents
and I had very long conversation with her about this field. After that day, I
started reading more about the different applications of biomedical devices and
I became more and more interested in inventing biomedical devices to improve
humans’ lives. So, my dream towards medicine always stayed in my mind, but its direction changed to a more
interesting and challenging field for me as biomedical engineer. During my
bachelor’s, I worked on the fabrication of skin patches for wound healing and I
presented my work in an international conference in Poland. One year after
getting my bachelor’s degree, I successfully collaborated in publishing an
academic book in Persian called “Nanomaterial in Biomedical Engineering” with
my supervisor. During my master’s at Manchester University, I found I was more
interested in the topic of bone implants because of current challenges in this
field. In my master’s project, I worked on the fabrication of a 3-D fibre-based
scaffold for potential bone regeneration which could be degraded over time.
Since I was fascinated by my Master’s project,
I decided to continue the topic for my PhD. So, I am currently a second year
PhD student and absolutely love my research with all its challenges and
adventures. My project is a multidisciplinary topic which focuses on the fabrication
of tissue scaffolds with different techniques. These scaffolds are 3-D structures
which are composed of polymers and two-dimensional materials which can mimic
the natural bone’s tissue. These 3-D scaffolds are integrated with biological
factors and cells to mimic the physiological environment. In the physiological
environment, these scaffolds can degrade over time and stimulate the formation
of new tissue. The main aim of this research is finding a new way to help
patients who are suffering from bone fractures and osteoporosis.
Now, I am almost midway through my PhD and I
still absolutely love my research. I find every day challenging and adventurous
for myself. I definitely can say that research is an unlimited area, that every
day I learn and discover new things in my field. Beside doing my research, I
also help other bachelor’s and master’s students in the lab with their projects
which makes me feel more excited about continuing my own research in my field to
a higher level. I have to say that that I am very thankful to all my parents’
support that gave me lots of opportunity to experience an amazing adventure in
my life.
Figure 1 3-D scaffold for bone
regeneration.Going Further…
If you are interested in reading my
paper, please visit the website: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsanm.8b00938?af=R
If you are interest in finding more
information about the biomaterial and our group, please visit the websites: https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/jonny.blaker.html and https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/david.lewis-4.html
If you are interested in perusing
Materials sciences, please visit the website: http://www.materials.manchester.ac.uk/
We also have a school blog which
details life as a materials student and interviews a range of students and
lecturers: http://www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk/uommaterialsblog/
Introduction
Hi! My name is Melissa and I’m currently in the second year
of my PhD at the University of Manchester. I am in the School of Materials, and
my research focusses on the corrosion of nickel-alloys that are used in
deep-sea oil pipelines.
I didn’t expect to end up doing a PhD, but this is where my
journey has taken me.
How I got here
Going into college, I had not a clue what I wanted to do, so
for my A-levels I picked to do Maths, Science and English, and randomly picking
Chemistry as my science as I thought it has the most potential to be
interesting. And it certainly turned out
to be true! I absolutely loved chemistry and decided to carry on studying it at
University.
So I did a 4 year integrated Master’s degree in chemistry at
the University of Manchester. I learnt so much, not only about Chemistry but
about myself as well. It had ignited my passion for science, and that passion
is something I want to share with as many people as I can, so I do lots and
lots of outreach activities.
As my degree came to an end, I knew another decision was
looming; what was I going to do next? I knew I wanted to carry on learning, so
decided a PhD would be my best opportunity. I was overwhelmed with the variety
of PhDs that were available to me. Everything from how bubbles work to building
new telescopes to look at the planets.
Whilst doing my research in to what I wanted to go into for
my PhD, I came across the Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Metallic
Systems. This programme was designed to take anyone from any STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering and Maths) subject and give them a year’s training in
Materials Science for them to then pick a PhD project from a selection offered.
Well perfect, I thought! This was a chance to learn about a brand new subject,
and then do a PhD as well. So this is what I did, and here I am now! And I
found the perfect PhD project for me. It perfectly marries what I had learnt in
my Chemistry degree, with my new knowledge of Materials Science.
In Depth
So why is the corrosion of Nickel-alloys so important?
Corrosion costs the oil and gas industry about $1372 billion every year – so a
pretty expensive problem. And these Ni-alloys are used as nuts and bolts in
what we call a well-head, and it’s the well-head’s job to maintain the pressure
in the pipeline. Herein lies the problem; these pipelines can be up to 5000m
below sea level. Therefore it’s really important to understand how and when
these alloys are likely to corrode, so we can better predict their lifetimes,
and prevent any failures in the pipeline.
Going Further
When I started this journey, way back on GCSE results day, I
didn’t know where I would end up, and I still don’t. I’m just doing what makes
me happy and enjoying the ride!
If you want to find out more about the Corrosion research at
Manchester you can do so here.
The EPS
Outreach Website has lots of details on the different types of work we do
with schools and the general public.
And if you would like to know more about what Materials
Science is, Strange
Matter is a great website.
Our ‘Undergraduate Research’ section will provide an insight into research conducted at an undergraduate level and feature case studies of undergraduate researchers at the University of Manchester.
Introduction
Hi, my name is Rhys Archer and I graduated from the
University of Manchester in 2013. I studied Materials Science and specialised
in Textile Science and Technology, and had to undertake around 4 research
projects a year based on lab work or industry examples. My 20,000 word final
year project was in the form of an extended lab report and looked at the UV
degradation of sail cloth material.
My research
I became interested in Textile Science and Technology (TST)
as I have always had an interest in both Textile manufacture and Maths and
Physics. I decided to study TST at university as I had worked at the government
Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) in the materials engineering department as
part of my work experience and had used laboratory methods to find faults in
materials that had caused fatal accidents. These reports were then used in
court as evidence for neglectful practice. I enjoyed the practical side to
science, as well applying scientific knowledge to real world situations.
Before my final year
project, I undertook research in areas such as carbon fibre braiding, the use
of Kevlar and other specialised materials in space material engineering, the
structure and construction of body armour and the use of carbon fibre for the
new Airbus design. I decided to concentrate on sail cloth material for my final
project as I enjoy sailing, and have always been interested in the materials
used for sails and sailing equipment and their resilience to natural factors
such as wind abrasion or water damage.
The purpose of the project was to compare 3 different types
of sail, subject them to different amounts of UV and then test their strength,
tear and colour properties to see if there was any difference, and if so, if
there was any trend in what type of material was the most susceptible.
In sailing, UV damage is the biggest commercial issue that
affects everyday sailors as well as yacht racers, and so finding a UV resistant
material would be ground breaking.
As I had decided to pursue my own research project, I found
an industrial sponsor who supplied the material I tested and the specifications
to test by. This was a great way to focus my research project, and meant that
my research had commercial value. I used the equipment in the labs at The
University of Manchester, including a light fastness machine, a tensile testing
machine, a spectrophotometer and a scanning electron microscope.
Conclusion
Since completing my final year research project, my interest
has been focussed more on the colour properties of materials and how these can
be measured accurately. This field of study is referred to as Colour Physics or
Colour Chemistry, and looks at what colour is, how it is measured, and the
chemistry and math behind it. I enjoy it as there is a creative element with
colour and textiles, which relates to design and photography, but with some
complex math, chemistry and physics to understand.
Going further...
Find out more about studying Materials Science at The
University of Manchester here.
Materials at Manchester – Graphene! Click here for more information.
Link to my final year project proposal presentation can be found here.
Click here for information on carbon fibre.
An interesting journal on textile composites used for space
exploration can be found here.
A look at historic sailcloth can be found here.
For more information on modern sailcloth created by my sponsors, click here.
The Health and Safety Laboratory.