Nationality: Irish

Biography

My name is Cillian Thompson I’m 23-years old and I am from Galway in Ireland. My background is heavily focused on biomedical engineering and more specifically material and mechanical analysis within this area. Both my bachelors and masters degrees are in biomedical engineering from the National University of Ireland in Galway (NUIG). I suppose I can attribute my passion for material and mechanical analyses to an internship I completed in in my third year of my bachelors, from then on I knew I wanted to find myself in a research and development role in the area of biomaterials and material behaviour in the future. My motivation for joining BioImplant was to further my knowledge in the area of materials, but also to be part of a project with the capability of changing biomedical engineering for the better. I was fortunate enough to have been selected to take part in the BioImplant project which offers not only academic expertise but also a brilliant industrial experience component in various countries in Europe. I am currently based in IMDEA Materials in Madrid, Spain and soon will move to ITA in Aachen, Germany to begin my secondment. Furthermore, as part of this project I will receive a Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD upon finishing. After this project I hope to acquire an important role in research and development in the orthopaedics industry.

My Research

The title of my BioImplant research project is: ‘Development of a 3D Printed Bioabsorbable Composite Material for Orthopaedic Applications’. Effectively the goal of my project is to have the capability of producing patient-specific orthopaedic devices manufactured from a composite 3D printed material. I am required to create my own filament from a composite material of my choice and then print the material. The material is required to be strong, biocompatible, and completely biodegradable within the body. At this moment in time my primary lines of research for potential biodegradable orthopaedic devices, are orthopaedic screws, plates, and scaffolds. Currently the gold standard for orthopaedic screws and plates are metallic which this project hopes to eradicate by producing completely biodegradable devices, hence removing the necessity for a second surgery which will reduce both patient cost and patient morbidity.

Host Institution

Industry