Participating Institutes

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) is one of the globally reputed educational and research institutes. IIT-K is carrying out original research of significance and technology development at the cutting edge. It imparts training to students to make them competent, motivated engineers and scientists. The Institute not only celebrates freedom of thought, cultivates vision and encourages growth, but also inculcates human values and concern for the environment and the society. The biomaterials activities at IIT Kanpur are mainly centered around two leading departments, Department of Materials & Metallurgical Engineering (MME) and Department of Biological sciences and BioEngineering (BSBE). Both MME and BSBE departments are currently engaged in cutting edge research of new biomaterial design and applications with a major focus on Bioceramic composites, polymer-ceramic composites, Bioglass and glass-ceramics, nanofibers, and smart biomaterials. Also, both MME and BSBE are well equipped in terms of state-of-art processing equipment for ceramic and polymeric based implant materials, including Spark Plasma Sintering, high temperature furnaces, compression molding etc. Also, the facilities for both mammalian cell and bacterial cell culture are also available at IIT Kanpur. In addition, sophisticated characterization facilities like SEM, FT-IR, DSC, DTA/TGA confocal microscope also facilitate biomaterials research’s in IIT Kanpur.

Brown University

Brown University is home to the oldest engineering program of all of the “Ivy League” universities in the USA. As such, it has been at the forefront of engineering the next generation of materials for numerous applications. Coupled with the Brown University Medical School, the new multi-million dollar Institute of Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation, and several National Science Foundation (NSF) Centers (in particular, the over ten year NSF funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center and the newly formed NSF Graduate Kindergarten Through Grade 12 Site which encourages students within the USA inner cities to explore science majors in college), Brown is uniquely situated to both discover new nanomaterials for health care and disseminate such information to encourage science learning to the world.

University of Washington, Seattle

The University of Washington, Seattle, Washington is a leading public research university with top rated programs in medicine, biological sciences and materials science and engineering among others. Its primary mission is preservation, advancement and dissemination of knowledge. To promote their capacity to make humane and informed decisions, the University fosters and environment in which the students can develop mature and independent judgment and an appreciation of the range and diversity of human achievement. Since 1969, the University has ranked among the top five institutions in the USA in receipt of federal research awards. Research on biomaterials is conducted in many departments with the Bio-Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering in the forefront. Research is being conducted on both hard and soft materials for implants and on tissue engineering. One of the unique programs at the University is a dual Ph.D. program in Nanotechnology and home Department. It is also a part of the NSF sponsored National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN). A broad range of facilities are available for the processing and characterization of bio-materials. A few of the relevant facilities include extensive microscopy facilities, complete set of thermal characterization facilities, spectroscopy facilities, X-Ray Diffraction and mechanical characterization facilities. Finally, a range of materials processing facilities for polymers, metal and ceramics are available

University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is the second largest university in the University of Texas System with an enrollment exceeding 29,000 students and is located in the 7th largest city in the US. The College of Engineering at UTSA has more than 2,000 students and is growing rapidly. Over the past 7 years the COE has seen more than a 100% increase in its enrollment, faculty, research funding and endowments. The college has programs in the following fields of engineering: biomedical (in collaboration with the medical school), electrical and computers, mechanical, and civil and environmental. The COE also houses the following research centers and institutes: Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Lean Systems, Center for Advanced Materials, Center for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship, Center for MEMs and the Institute for Bioengineering and Translational Research. In the area of Biomedical Engineering, the COE has several renowned experts in the areas of biomaterials and tissue engineering.