In the Composite Biomaterial Systems Laboratory, we conduct research and development in two general areas:
We can summarize our efforts as interdisciplinary investigation and innovation for improved bone health and repair. A great deal of what we do concerns structure-function-property relationships, how these change with aging and disease in bone, and how they can be optimized in the development of superior structural biomaterials.
What are Composite Biomaterial Systems?
Composite:
Made up of multiple parts/phases.
Biomaterial:
- A naturally-derived material, such as human tissue (e.g. bone, cartilage, tendon, etc.).
- A material developed for biomedical applications (e.g. implantable biomaterials for the reconstruction of bone).
Systems:
Representative of our holistic, interdisciplinary approach to research and development.
News
Chair of the 2021 meeting of the Canadian Biomaterials Society and President 2021-2022
Prof. Willett is the Chair of the 2021 meeting of the Canadian Biomaterials Society and is currently serving as President-Elect of the society. He will be the President from 2021 to 2022.
Congratulations to Daniel Dapaah for passing his Comprehensive Exam!
Congratulations to Daniel Dapaah for passing his Comprehensive Exam!
Daniel is the WCBSL's first PhD student to reach this milesone since 2015 (when Prof. Willett joined the University of Waterloo).
New paper in Materials Science and Engineering C - Congrats Dibakar and team!
Congratulations to Dr. Dibakar Mondal and the team for the paper recently accepted to Materials Science and Engineering - Part C - Materials for Biological Applications. The paper is entitled "Acrylated Epoxidized Soybean Oil / Hydroxyapatite-Based Nanocomposite Scaffolds Prepared by Additive Manufacturing for Bone Tissue Engineering" and it represents the fruits of more than two years of hard work and an excellent collaboration with Prof. Yi-Chin Toh and Dr. Akshaya Srinivasan from the National University of Singapore.
A link to the paper will be added soon.
An anatomically accurate skull model printed on our vat polymerization 3D printer using our biomaterials composite resin ink.
A crack growing in cortical bone during fracture toughness testing.
A vertebra model printed using our novel nanocomposite inks and digital light projection.