Tag: materials science

  • Bio-Gel Designed to Transform into Precursor Tooth Material

    5 March 2014. Life science and engineering researchers at Harvard University developed a sponge-like gel material that when seeded with embryonic cells in lab tests shrinks and hardens into a predecessor of human tooth tissue. The team led by Donald Ingber, director of Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, published its findings online last…

  • Implanted Heart Membrane Device Created by 3-D Printer

    25 February 2014. Engineers and medical researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and University of Illinois in Champaign used a three-dimensional printer to create a membrane that fits over the heart, with electronic components to monitor its functions. The team led by Washington University’s Igor Efimov and Illinois’s John Rogers published its findings today…

  • Natural Regenerative Cellular Matrix Frame Grown in Lab

    24 February 2014. Biomedical engineers at Michigan Technological University in Houghton and Duke University in Durham, North Carolina developed a process for creating a framework needed to turn stem cells into engineered regenerative tissue. The research team led by Michigan Tech professor Feng Zhao published its findings online in a recent issue of the journal…

  • Artificial Muscle Created from Fishing Line, Thread Material

    20 February 2014. An international team of materials scientists and engineers developed high-strength artificial muscles from materials found into ordinary fishing line and sewing thread. The consortium from University of Texas in Dallas, University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues from China, Turkey, Australia, and Korea published their findings today in the journal…

  • UCLA Starts Crowdfunding Platform for Research, Service

    18 February 2014. University of California at Los Angeles today started a crowdfunding platform to finance research and service projects by faculty and students. The platform, called UCLA Spark, began with five appeals including research projects in engineering and public health. Crowdfunding, according to the technology Web site Mashable, “describes the collective effort of individuals who…

  • Science-Based Enterprises: Great Ideas Beat Venture Capital

    14 February 2014. Three entrepreneurs starting companies based on science described how they got their businesses off the ground, with ground-breaking science in many cases more important than a large stash of venture capital. San Diego entrepreneurs John Newsam, Irwin Jacobs, and Han Cao told of their start-up business experiences today at a session of…

  • Metal-Organic Framework Developed that Responds to UV Light

    27 January 2014. Chemists at University at Buffalo in New York and Pennsylvania State University in Hazelton developed a sponge-like material that changes shape and color in response to ultraviolet (UV) rays. The team led by Buffalo’s Jason Benedict published its findings online last week in the journal Chemical Communications (paid subscription required). Metal-organic frameworks…

  • EU-Funded Project to Develop Biomaterials for Stents

    Ceram, a materials technology company in Stoke-on-Trent in the U.K., is coordinating a project funded by the European Commission to develop new biocompatible materials suitable for stents that help keep blood vessels open in the heart. The project, known as Rebiostent, is receiving €4.58 million of its €5.87 million ($US 6.19 million of $7.93 million)…

  • Heart Vessel Surgical Glue Shown Effective in Animal Tests

    Surgeons and biomedical engineers at Boston Children’s and Brigham and Women’s hospitals and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, developed a non-toxic, biocompatible surgical glue that in tests with pigs patches heart defects, such as those in large blood vessels. The team led by Boston Children’s Pedro del Nido and Jeffrey Karp of Brigham and Women’s Hospital…

  • Columbia Team to Study Electric Power Switching Transistors

    An engineering research group at Columbia University in New York received a $3 million grant from U.S. Department of Energy to create high-power electric switching devices with the speed and efficiency of electronic transistor circuits. The team led by electrical and biomedical engineering professor Ken Shepard — that includes members from MIT, IBM, and the…