Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing) of multi-functional scaffold and tissue models through multi-material projection micro stereolithography (pµSLA) - ENG 1438

Project description: The successful applicant will participate in a fully funded programme to look into the production of high accuracy multi-functionalized scaffold and tissue models mimicking actual body parts. The ability to fabricate and customise these models not only helps increasing the accuracy of in vitro assessment, reducing the need of in vivo test (i.e. organ on a chip, organoids), but also opens the vista of real organ printing.
Projection Micro stereolithography (puSLA) is a high resolution (~2µm) Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique that has been commercialised in recent years. It enables the user to create centimeter-scale devices with extreme feature resolution approaching those of single mammalian cells. Although not currently commercialized, the puSLA process also has the capability to integrate multiple materials through a customised fluidic cell unit. The successful applicant will work on a project including the development and optimization of a highly efficient multi-material printing unit for puSLA. Based on the new unit, high accuracy mutli-material devices will be produced for in vitro assessment to investigate their unique mechanical performance and cell response brought by micron scale 3D printing.
The person appointed will work as part of a dynamic interdisciplinary team focussed on developing cutting edge polymer technologies as part of the CfAM. The CfAM is a large interdisciplinary group active in the area of Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing. Comprising of around 100 academics, post-doctoral researchers and PhD students, it is one of the largest research centres for additive manufacturing and 3D printing worldwide. The Centre engages with a broad range of academics from across the UK and a significant number of industrial partners to deliver on an industrially prioritised research agenda – this particular project is part of a large, collaborative EPSRC Programme Grant looking at Next Generation Additive Manufacturing (EP/P031684/1).