US-Ireland-Northern Ireland R&D partnership announced among the NSF-ERC for Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials in the US, CÚRAM at NUI Galway in Ireland and NIBEC at Ulster University in Northern Ireland
Under the auspices of the US-Ireland R&D program, a Centre-to-Centre (C2C) tripartite collaborative partnership was formed among the National Science Foundation (NSF) -ERC for Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials (RMB) in the USA, the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research in Medical Devices (CÚRAM) in the Republic of Ireland (ROI), and the Nanotechnology and Integrated Bioengineering Centre (NIBEC) at Ulster University in Northern Ireland (NI). The partnership is supported by industrial partners OrthoKinetic Technologies LLC, OrthoKinetic Testing Technologies LLC (Ortho Kinetics, Inc.), of Shallotte, NC, USA and Ft. Wayne Metals (FWM) Ft. Wayne, IN, USA.
This tripartite partnership creates a unique convergence of world-leading expertise from academia and industry in the fields of materials processing, surface characterization, and computational modeling with the shared goal of developing bioresorbable magnesium (Mg) alloy systems for orthopedic implant devices.
Concurrent with the research, the C2C is envisioning study abroad opportunities and as well as transatlantic offerings of seminars and lectures to prepare the next-generation workforce for the global knowledge economy.
Ultimately, such inter-collaboration will promote “outside the box” thinking skills in the 21st century workforce, and will aid individuals to find permanent employment in a wide range of industrial and governmental positions. As such, this tripartite collaboration can have a strong impact on the next generation workforce, with particular emphasis on the students gaining opportunities for study aboard and to spend time conducting the research activities at the industrial partner research sites (USA, ROI, and NI).
C2C Inauguration as part of Science Foundation Ireland Science Summit 2016, November 14th at Croke Park, Dublin with Dr. France Cordova, Director of NSF and Prof. Mark Ferguson, Director General, SFI and Chief Scientific Adviser to Govt. of Ireland.
The overall aim of this US-Ireland R&D C2C Partnership collaboration is to develop bioresorbable orthopedic implants made from novel high strength, high ductility magnesium and magnesium alloy systems that can replace the permanent metals/metal alloys usually used in applications ranging from thin wires to thicker pins, rods and elastic stable intramedullary nails (ESINs), as well as meshes for the treatment of complex bone fractures. The C2C will use both existing high purity magnesium systems and new magnesium alloys that are currently being developed by the NSF-ERC-RMB using novel processing methods (patents pending). In addition to using them in their inherent state, C2C will employ advanced surface modification and coating procedures developed at NIBEC at Ulster University to control key interfacial properties for the clinical applications concerned and use bespoke finite element models developed at CÚRAM at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) to provide the data to target multiple applications by varying bulk and surface properties.
