25 years of MaTe (TU Eindhoven)

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25 years of MaTe

Who won the MaTe poster contest?

‘The MaTe poster contest is a powerful tool’

On the benefits of collaboration

Discover the labs

meet the professors

‘We can compete with the best universities in the world’

25 years of MaTe

December 13th, 2018

Eindhoven

index

What is your experience with MaTe? page 4

From 108 posters to 10 pitches page 6 ‘The MaTe poster contest is a powerful tool’

Meet the professors

pages 12-19

page 5

info

colophon

about MaTe

Release date: December 13, 2018

Materials Technology (MaTe) is an

With MaTe people from different groups

Copyright: Acquisition of images and texts

interdepartemental institute at the Eindhoven

share infrastructure (labs), staff, general

only in consultation with the publisher.

University that hosts the Computational and

knowledge and support. Without sending bills

Production: Live Magazines

Experimental Mechanics group from the

to each other. I.e. open door culture.

Graphic design: William van Giessen

Department of Mechanical Engineering and

Writers: Lauren Comitteau, Mirjam Streefkerk

the Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering

Every six weeks we organize off campus

Photography: David Jagersma

group from the Department of Biomedical

an afternoon with lectures from these six

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Engineering and comprises six main

groups. All PhD students talk every two years,

research sections.

i.e. twice during a PhD, and all staff every

about Live Magazines

four years. People learn from each other and

Events are volatile, a Live Magazine remains.

Materials Technology used experiments,

Live Magazines captures the knowledge,

theory and simulations to learn and predict

energy and inspiration of events in a keen,

mechanical properties of materials in general,

Eindhoven University of Technology

vivid publication made on the fly. This

but every group has its own focus.

Materials Technology

increases and extends the impact of an event

quality of presentations is very high.

Groene Loper, Gebouw 15

and increases engagement with participants

MaTe was founded almost 25 years ago by

De Rondom 70

and (future) partners.

profs Frank Baaijens and Han Meijer. It thus

5612 AP Eindhoven

We are making a report today that will help

started as a collaboration of two groups and

you get started tomorrow.

grew into six groups. In the mean time, Han

www.mate.tue.nl

This publication is made on December 13th, at

Meijer retired and Frank Baaijens is now the

MaTe@tue.nl

the 25 years of MaTe event.

provost (Rector Magnificus) of the university.

MaTe • 25 years

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index

‘With MaTe we can compete with the best universities in the world’

On the benefits of collaboration

page 8

page 20

And the winners are… page 6

& photos pages 11 & 28

About the labs pages 22-27

MaTe • 25 years

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at the entrance

What is your experience with MaTe?

Yu Li Mechanics of Materials

Setareh Kazemzadeh Mechanical Engineering

“This is my first time at this event. It’s a chance for everyone to learn about everyone else’s research and a good opportunity for socialization. The parties are good!”

department, Microsystems group

“I came here three months ago from Iran, where we have nothing on the scale of MaTe. It was a nice challenge working on the poster. I had to get involved with other students and I got to meet people from other departments. I liked learning about other projects and people.”

Nicole van Gestel and Meike Kleuskens Biomedical Engineering

Martijn Hoeijmakers biomedical engineer in Cardiovascular Biomechanics

“Within the group you have mechanical engineers and biomedical engineers; it’s quite diverse. Every six weeks we have an AG meeting where we have to present our work. You’re forced to make it understandable for your colleagues in other disciplines, to think of your work in a different way. And that’s good.”

“It’s Nicole’s birthday the day after the meeting, so the party ushers in her birthday. It’s an international group of people here, which is nice.”

Meike

“Meike and I are close collaborators!

Everyone is willing to help each other out.

There’s always a good vibe.”

Nicole

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interview

‘The MaTe poster contest is a powerful tool’ Professor Jaap Schouten is chair of the poster contest jury. “I don’t know yet who will win,” he said just before the pitching event started.

Since 2017, Jaap is a member of the Executive Board of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and chair of the NWO Domain Applied and Engineering Sciences (TTW). He also still works part-time as a professor at TU/e in the department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry. “Although I’m not an expert on all subjects passing by, I really enjoyed reviewing all of the posters. You can see it is high quality research.”

Although this is Jaap’s second time as a jury member in the MaTe poster contest, it is his first time as chair of the jury. “I said yes because I enjoyed

MaTe • 25 years

being a member of the jury last year.

First of all, it’s the topic: As a technical scientist, I like to read about the research of other technical scientists.

And then there’s the cooperation with the other jury members. We had very substantive discussions about the posters.”

Effective representations

The MaTe poster contest is a powerful tool that contributes to the quality of MaTe as a whole, Jaap says. “In the first place, all the researchers hear and read about the research of their colleagues. Besides that, there’s the competitive aspect. If you participate, you want to present your research in the best possible way. Just thinking about that will in the end also benefit your research.”Making posters and pitching are skills in their own right. “A poster

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can be an effective representation of your research; it needs to be visually attractive and make sense at the same time. And then there’s the pitch: That has to be attractive, too. You cannot just explain what’s on your poster.”

We talked to Jaap just before the event. “I don’t know yet who will win,” he said, smiling. “Of course I have a few posters in mind that are frontrunners. But it’s not just the poster, it’s the best combination of poster and pitch that deserves a spot in the poster Hall of Fame.”

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nominees & pitches

From 108 posters to 10 pitches More than 100 researchers prepared pitches for MaTe’s annual poster contest. Only 10 could actually pitch for the win. And the finalists are…

Reviewing 108 posters wasn’t easy, says chair of the jury Jaap Schouten (NWO/ TU/e). “Materials Technology at TU/e is world class. In the past 25 years, MaTe has had a big impact not only on the industry, but also in society. The high quality MaTe delivers was emphazised by the posters we saw.”

Together with his colleagues Michel van Bruggen (Philips Research) and Bert van Haastrecht (M2i), Jaap judged the posters based on four criteria: General attractiveness, accessibility, presentation and whether the information on the poster made sense. “A poster should invite you to start reading, and after that, what you read must be logical,” Jaap explained before announcing the finalists.

MaTe • 25 years

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nominees & pitches

And the finalists are…

Dolf Klomp with his poster ‘A Discrete Element Method for Simulating Particle Flow of Sugar Particles for 3D Printing’; Luc Bakker with his poster ‘Towards extracting blood flow from CT angiogram images’; Miroslawa Lewinska with her poster ‘Metafoams - mass enriched poroelastic material with exceptional attenuation performance’; Marjan Hagelaars with her poster ‘Mechanical regulation of renal tubule formation’;

MaTe • 25 years

Setareh Kazemzadeh with her poster ‘Organic brain-inspired arrays for smart biosensors’; Alireza Shirazi-Beheshtiha with his poster ‘Computational modeling for new surgical treatment in earlyonset scoliosis’; Christos Mitrias with his poster ‘Numerical methods that reduce the cost and accelerate the development process of foams’; Cristiana Caresio with her poster ‘Continuous muscle thickness measurement in walking exercise’;

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Tim van Nuland with his poster ‘Microstructural modelling of large scale additively manufactured metals’; Aysegul Dede-Eren with her poster ‘A tendon story: Episode I: “May the Force Be With You”’.

Who will win?

Each of the finalists gets three minutes for his or her pitch. After that, the jury retires to make its decision. Who will win? Continue reading!

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interview

‘With MaTe we can compete with the best universities in the world’

MaTe • 25 years

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Frank Baaijens

Frank Baaijens is rector of TU/e. He founded MaTe 25 years ago, together with Han Meijer.

“Before our careers at TU/e, Han and I both worked in the industry, where you don’t own anything as a researcher,” Professor Frank Baaijens says about the origin of MaTe. “Scientists sometimes have the tendency to think that a lab is their own, while you can only practice really good science if you let others access your lab, too. That is why Han and I took the initiative for MaTe 25 years ago.”

Labs, research and colloquia

During that period, Frank, Han and other people from different disciplines already worked closely together. “With MaTe, we wanted to give an extra impulse to this collaboration: By giving each other access to each other’s lab, organizing colloquia and collaborating in research.”

Because MaTe also cooperates in education, students also profit from the concept, Frank says. “That way they get in touch with views and approaches from other research groups, which enriches them. In their future jobs, whether they are in science or in industry, they also get in touch with many different perspectives on what they’re working on.”

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Combining theory with experiments

Frank thinks MaTe can act as an example for the rest of the university.

“Thanks to this collaboration, we have always been able to compete with the best universities in the world.

Our publications at least equal the publications of big institutions like MIT and Stanford. In fact, because of the close cooperation between our more theoretically-oriented research groups and the more experimentally oriented ones, MaTe distinguishes itself from many other universities.”

Numerical analysis of continua Frank left MaTe four years ago. “I miss the research, but fortunately, I still teach a littl with one of my former PhD students. It’s a course on numerical analysis of continua.”

Does he have any advice for the groups within MaTe? “As a university, we are becoming somewhat less hierarchical, which makes researchers more independent. MaTe has now become a fairly broad group. Those two developments make it even more important to continue paying attention to the collaboration between groups that at first glance have little to do with each other.”

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awards

And the winners are…

Who will get a spot in the MaTe Poster Hall of Fame? Who will be able to brag for a year to their fellow researchers about this fantastic achievement? The winners of the MaTe Poster Contest 2018 are…

Aysegul Dede-Eren and

Tim van Nuland!

Jury prize “Pitching in science is something else,” jury member Michel van Breggen said before announcing the jury’s choice. “You need to attract attention and be concise at the same time. After quite some discussion, we chose a poster with an original layout and a pitch that was both original and intriguing, that showed us that science can be fun and light-footed. The award for best poster goes to Aysegul!”

The aim of Aysegul’s research is to understand through which biological pathways mechanical stimulations regulate tenocyte shape and function.

Audience prize Tim van Nuland’s poster got the most votes from his fellow researchers. The aim of his research is to obtain a novel structure-property relationship for products made with large-scale deposition techniques based on computational modelling.

Congrats Aysegul and Tim! Please don’t forget to be proud when walking through the MaTe Poster Hall of Fame.

MaTe • 25 years

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photo impression

MaTe • 25 years

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interview

Professor Frans van de Vosse

leads the research group Cardiovascular Biomechanics, Biomedical Engineering department For professor Van de Vosse, the benefits of having contact with students and colleagues working in different application fields but who use similar research techniques, is clear: “It broadens your view on research areas and makes it possible to translate from one area to another.

So it’s practical—the laboratories, for instance—while scientifically, it broadens your view. The collaborations initiate new creative solutions that might not pop up so easily in your own field.”

He cites blood flow as an example.

“In my field, we are interested in blood flow, but blood behaves differently from water. And that’s what I learned from the Polymer Technology people.

There’s a strong relation between the way you describe polymer fluids and the way you compute cardiovascular fluid dynamics problems.”

For Frans, MaTe’s first annual party remains particularly memorable. “For the first time, I saw everyone together and saw what a big group it was and how good it was to be involved. We also collected all the PhD research into one poster book and, seeing it, realized how much interesting work we do. So that first time, 25 years ago, was an eye-opener!”

MaTe • 25 years

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interview

Professor Marc Geers Full Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Having done his PhD at TU/e before becoming a full professor in 2000, Professor Geers has known all about MaTe since its inception, and he’s watched it over the years as it’s diversified from its mechanical engineering roots.

“But there is one red line that connects all of us: The culture of quality Han Meijer and Frank Baaijens installed,” says Marc. “Even though we investigate different problems for different applications, we use similar computational tools and often similar analyses methods. MaTe is about sharing those tools, sharing the knowledge and infrastructure of using those tools and, not least of all, sharing that culture of quality that was a driving force in the beginning and still is. It’s a dynamic environment where quality matters, so if you want to be a part of it, you better match that standard!”

Marc finds it hard to pinpoint a single standout moment in the more than two decades of MaTe’s existence.

Instead, he says, it is “continuously ongoing,” and he points to the many staff meetings held throughout the Netherlands that combine serious research discussions with enjoyment.

“These are more than just professional gatherings,” says Marc. “Many people are friends and have a strong social bond, and that’s perhaps equally important. Especially between faculty members, MaTe builds a stronger bond among us. That leads to many happy, memorable moments, but I’m not going to detail those!”

MaTe • 25 years

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interview

Professor Keita Ito chair, Orthopaedic Biomechanics

Arriving here in 2002 as a visiting professor, Professor Ito was “amazed” at the close collaboration between the Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering departments.

“I came from the US, where every single staff member had his or her own laboratory and you purchased central services,” he says. “But when I came here, there were shared labs, not only between professors, but between departments, which usually act as walls. Here they were sharing across these walls, and there was no discussion of payment: everything was free. When I saw how smoothly this works and the advantage to research, it was an aha moment for me.”

Sharing facilities and costs, says Keita, “maximizes the availability of different methodologies to each other,” while the sharing of knowledge that MaTe allows means “we can go to people who have expertise and very specific knowledge and learn from it and apply it to what we do.”

For example, Keita’s research into arthritis uses a computer model to track the progression of the disease.

To understand damage accumulation, where tissue becomes softer and gets worn away the more joints are used, Keita says he learned much from his colleagues in the Mechanical Engineering department. “They look at damage accumulation in metals.

Their modeling is more advanced than ours, so by learning from them, we can apply their knowledge to tissues, and it helps us better understand diseases in humans.”

MaTe • 25 years

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interview

Professor Patrick Anderson

is chair of the Polymer Technology group Openness: That is what defines MaTe, according to Professor Patrick Anderson. “It’s not just our open lab infrastructure, but also the openness everyone has towards one another.

That helps us to cooperate in a simple and easy way.”

And that cooperation pays off. “MaTe builds a bridge between industrially and societally relevant research.

We applied some of our models for polymer technology in biology, for instance. That knowledge is now used in tissue-engineered heart valves. And with Jaap den Toonder’s group, we looked at the mechanical properties of cells in order to tell if they were healthy or not.”

“Scientific research must nowadays comply with a lot of rules, which makes it difficult sometimes to deviate from the beaten path. Within MaTe, we inspire each other to do exactly that, with positive results.”

However, Patrick thinks that there is still some room for improvement. “We can work on our speed. We now work mainly linearly: Only after finishing a paper do we start valorising the results.

I would like to see us start using preliminary results at an earlier stage— while the research is still running. Then society benefits even more.”

MaTe • 25 years

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interview

Professor Jaap den Toonder

leads the Microsystems group Professor Jaap den Toonder laughs when asked for his best MaTe memories. “The parties!” he says.

“When I started here in 2004, I was a part-timer, so I missed a lot of formal events. But I got to know everyone through all the informal meetings.

They are an important aspect of our MaTe community.”

Also important is the scientific cohesion, Jaap says. “In recent years, our subjects have broadened, now also including biology. And yet we continue to find common ground within that broad spectrum.” One of his PhD students regularly organises ‘Microfabrication meets Biology’ meetings, for example. “There they learn from each other’s fields of expertise and come up with new ideas.”

Jaap says the shared labs also make an important contribution to the MaTe community. “People from other disciplines sometimes work in our Microfab Lab, and vice versa.

The interaction there is an inspiration for our research. Without this close collaboration on every level, MaTe wouldn’t have the strength it has now.”

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interview

Professor Carlijn Bouten

leader of the research group Soft Tissue Engineering & Mechanobiology The key to the success of MaTe for Professor Carlijn Bouten is a nobrainer: “The cooperation across all disciplines.” She first experienced that when she came to work here 26 years ago. “I had a background in cell biology and was working in a lab, where I asked a mechanical engineer for help. That resulted in the emergence of the motion sensor that now everyone is wearing in Fitbits and other devices. ”Without MaTe, her career probably would have looked totally different.

“I worked on tissue-engineered heart valves, and I now lead the national gravitation program Materials-Driven Regeneration. For my research, I am grateful to be able to use the knowledge on polymers within MaTe. Knowing how these polymers behave in certain conditions has been of great help for our research.”

For the future of MaTe, professor Bouten hopes that younger generations will continue its close cooperation. “Because of it, we are in a unique position in the world. We must hold on to that.”

MaTe • 25 years

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interview

Cees Oomens Professor, Soft Tissue Biomechanics

Gerrit Peters

Professor, Mechanical Engineering department, working on applied rheology and polymer processing.

Professors Oomens and Peters have been working together since 1985, so it’s only logical that we sat them down together. “I’ve worked with Gerrit for a really long time,” says Cees, stressing the importance of collaborations and knowledge-sharing with colleagues in different research fields. “That’s very important for a multi-disciplinary field. Gerrit brings in knowledge from rheology and I bring in knowledge from biomedical engineering.

Together, we do nice things.”

One joint project, funded by Philips, involved skin mechanics. Philips was interested in what happens when skin comes into contact with its devices, such as razors. “The cell lab had knowledge of tissue engineering,” explains Cees, “and we could carry out the experiments down the corridor in the rheology department. We put

MaTe • 25 years

our findings in a commercial code and Phillips used it to improve their razors. You may think there’s not much science in a razor. But it’s a hightech piece of equipment and every micrometer counts!”

Both Cees and Gerrit agree that MaTe has expanded their spheres of research and the choices they’ve made in how they carry it out. “But I have more fun,” jokes Gerrit, who received a masters in mechanical engineering, a PhD from the University of Maastricht and then did biomechanical research into elbow joints before coming to TU/e. “I went into materials and polymers,” he says.

“Everything that I like and that inspires me was put together in MaTe.”

that you may not have thought of if you stayed only in your own discipline.

Without MaTe, I would have worked in a much narrower field.”

“When I visited the US in 1985, I never thought we would have the money and facilities that the big universities had,” says Cees. “Fifteen years later, MaTe was founded, and we now have the facilities to compete with any institute in the world. That is a result of sharing labs and budgets.”

Gerrit says when MaTe’s two founders got a new European project on the crystallization of polymers, it “defined the most important part of my career.

The work that came out of it is top of the bill.”

For Cees, the value of MaTe is hard to overstate. “MaTe is my life,” he says.

“If there was no MaTe, I would have had a completely different career than I have now…. I have done a huge amount of multi-disciplinary work, but I never had my own lab. The choices you make for the approach you take in your research depends, too, on the facilities and infrastructure available.

MaTe is influential that way, plus you have a broad group of people with vast knowledge. That gives you ideas

Looking to the future, Cees says collaborations are crucial for securing funding, which gives MaTe a competitive edge. As for Gerrit, he’s looking to the new generation of scientists to reinvent MaTe. “Then it will survive,” he says. “Our motivation is here because of the founders. But everyone who comes in now accepts it as normal. They don’t know how much they can lose.”

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interview

Marleen Rieken

first secretary, MaTe Marleen Rieken served as MaTe’s secretary from its beginning until 2015.

She’s been called “The Boss” by many professors, and indeed Marleen, as a coordinator, admits to liking telling people what to do, especially when organizing conferences.

“But mostly,” she says, “I liked the international contacts and working with young people. I learned a lot about people and different cultures. There’s a lot of war in the world, but not in the MaTe group. There’s only peace and science.”

“I’m not in science,” she continues, “but with my colleagues, it was very easy to learn from each other and to ask for help. The cooperation between scientists filtered down to us.”

Marleen says her entire experience at MaTe was “one big beautiful moment, especially when we had trips and social events. I think other groups at the university were jealous. What we have is really special.”

MaTe • 25 years

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interview

On the Benefits of Collaboration MaTe co-founder Professor Han Meijer bucks the individualistic trend and talks strength through numbers (and disciplines) Han Meijer says he co-founded MaTe 25 years ago for one simple reason: If you want to beat the Americans, to be a world-class research institute, you’re better off cooperating than fighting each other. Americans are individualists, so there’s a punishment for cooperation: You’re not the first author, and that’s crucial for obtaining tenure track. We don’t have that problem in Holland. So our staff can cooperate.”

So 25 years ago, he formed a group, which in the beginning had just four staff members, and asked them to focus on strengths, not weaknesses.

“They didn’t have to do everything themselves,” recalls Han. “A theory guy is normally never able to do experiments. You need two people.

People think materials technology is very broad. But it’s not, because you focus on mechanics—fluid and solid mechanics, and that’s all. That focus on mechanics is what binds the group.”

MaTe • 25 years

The now retired Han, who spends his time reading and painting, says MaTe has met its goals. “We wanted to be at the highest competitive level in regards to research, funding, publications and innovations. And we are.”

“Every six years, there’s an assessment of research quality by an international group, and it compares all the universities in Holland,” he continues.

“We always have the maximum score. It was a useful and objective compliment. It was the whole success of our approach.”

Han says MaTe’s needs haven’t changed over the decades. “The good thing is if you work in a group, new staff can follow their own paths in terms of time and quality. That’s still how it is today. Cooperation is important, because we have to beat the Americans.”

Han says he doesn’t know of any other similar research groups worldwide.

“Usually, people want to combine experiments and theory or numerics, so they go outside their universities or their country’s border, for sure they

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go outside their own institute. Staying inside is too dangerous for their careers.”

Han says the benefits to today’s crop of MaTe students stem from the AG meetings held every six weeks. Over the course of their four-year education, students listen to 160 lectures. He says they learn what’s good and bad by themselves. “They teach themselves how to present. We never have to worry about our students talking at international conferences. They know how to talk. But we also want students to listen to other disciplines. That’s how it works in companies. It is good training to look broader than just your own topic.”

And that, says Han, is something “we are losing. My advice to current professors is to keep that, because it’s worthwhile. Sometimes people say they have no time. But time is no excuse. It’s valuable stuff.”

Looking back on his life’s work with MaTe, is Han proud? “I’m always proud,” he says. “I can’t stand criticism, so I have to be good enough.”

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Han Meijer

MaTe • 25 years

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MaTe lab

Cardiovascular Biomechanics The aim of the Cardiovascular Biomechanics research is to develop computational models, experimental techniques, and medical devices for clinical diagnosis, decision support, and intervention.

Research is performed along three lines: ‘Blood in Motion’ focuses on the development of mathematical models that simulate blood flow to obtain insight into the occurrence of vascular diseases and to assist in patient specific intervention planning.

‘Heart at Work’ is aimed at assisting in clinical decision making on the basis of mathematical and experimental models. The former enables translation of clinical information on cardiac function into information on the mechanical, electrical, and metabolic state of the tissue. The latter allow for testing of devices and hypotheses in an accessible and controllable environment.

‘Vessels under Stress’ aims to develop clinical measurement techniques to assess the mechanical and morphological properties of the arterial wall, and to use computational models to predict the development of vascular disease and outcome of clinical intervention.

MaTe • 25 years

Labs

The Laboratory for Biomechanics (Biolab) hosts a variety of equipment and experimental setups in the field of cardiovascular and orthopaedic biomechanics. Advanced experimental mock loops are available, to mimic different parts of the cardio vascular system. These mock loops enable the development and improvement of techniques for diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases but are also used to verify computer models of the cardiovascular system.

The lab also hosts a microCT scanner and five mechanical testing machines for the mechanical characterization of hard and soft tissues under static and dynamic loading conditions.

To facilitate the development of computer models using specialised software, the lab hosts a numerical analysis area for computation and visualisation purposes.

The Photoacoustics & Ultrasound Laboratory Eindhoven (PULS/e) is designed to facilitate the ongoing research on technology development (ultrasound imaging, photoacoustics) and applied science (US-based biomechanical modeling for improved clinical decision making). The lab is fully equipped for development of new functional ultrasound imaging techniques, using both high-end clinical systems with open RF interfaces, but also research platforms and a fully integrated photoacoustics

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platform. To catalyze introduction of new techniques into the clinic, a complete section of PULS/e is dedicated to in vivo measurements.

Setups for acquisition in rest or in exercise are available, respecting both privacy and safety of the volunteers and/or patients.

Application areas

The computational and experimental work as well as the ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging activities performed in the Cardiovascular Biomechanics group are mainly applied to give answer to questions that arise in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases such as coronary artery disease, aortic aneurysms, carotid artery disease, heart failure, and heart valve disorders. The research may also focus on the better understanding of specific circulatory physiology as can be found in exercise, perinatal applications, intensive care. Finally, research is performed aimed at the development and optimization of medical devices and instrumentation, extracorporeal systems, and cardiovascular prostheses.

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MaTe lab

Soft Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology The mission of the group is to conduct research on the biomechanics, mechanobiology, and engineering of soft biological tissues, organs, and their components; and to provide a stimulating educational environment for graduate and post-graduate students. We aim to understand and predict how mechanical factors influence tissue growth, remodeling, damage, and repair, in order to (re)build soft tissues and organs, and to prevent mechanically-induced soft tissue degeneration.

Research themes include: cardiovascular tissue engineering, the biophysical cellular niche, tissue and organ morphogenesis, computational modeling of soft tissue regeneration, scaffold design, and skin and fat mechanics. Emphasis is given to the integration of computational modeling with experimentation at length scales from molecule to man.

Labs

Research in the group is multidisciplinary by heart, combining concepts from molecular, cell and tissue biology, (patho)physiology, immunology, biomechanics, physics, engineering, and materials sciences. These competences are present in the group and state-ofthe-art technologies and platforms to support the researchers and

MaTe • 25 years

students are available in the Cell and Tissue Engineering lab. This is a shared research facility that combines standard cell and tissue culture technologies with molecular/ cell/tissue analysis, cell and tissue mechanical characterization, cell transfection, life imaging, in house developed bioreactors and microtissue platforms, and scaffold manufacturing (spinning, printing) and testing technologies. In addition, the group houses a fully equipped microscopy facility with advanced fluorescent microscopes and dedicated confocal microscopy set-ups for on-line and prolonged monitoring of living cells and tissue. Through its collaborations within MaTe and with the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, the group has access to the laboratory for Biomechanics, the Materials Engineering facility, the Microfabrication Lab, and the Immuno-engineering facility.

Application Areas

Our fundamental knowledge gain is applied in two complementary research areas: Tissue engineering and regeneration.

We focus on the engineering and regeneration of load bearing soft tissues, aimed at either the replacement of diseased or malformed tissues, or the

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development of well-defined in-vitro model systems of tissue growth, adaptation, regeneration and degeneration. Tissues of principle interest are heart valves and small diameter arteries, while new research lines concentrate on biomaterial-driven regeneration of organ functions (heart, kidney, cornea).

Soft tissue biomechanics. This line of research is aimed at understanding the influence of mechanical loading on damage and adaptation of soft tissues. An important application area is the investigation of the etiology of pressure ulcers, with the ultimate goal to identify risk parameters and, in particular, early markers of tissue damage. These markers can be used in biosensors or as leads for bio-molecular imaging. A second research line is focused on the mechanical properties of the top layers of the skin, to understand the interaction of skin with sensors, personal care applications and devices used for transepidermal drug delivery.

To translate our fundamental knowledge to (bio)medical applications we actively collaborate with clinical partners, industry, and patient organizations, mainly in publicprivate-patient partnerships (PPPPs).

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MaTe lab

Mechanics of materials The Mechanics of Materials group focuses on the design, manufacturing and analysis of a variety of mechanical components, devices and structures, involving a variety of hightech materials across a broad range of length scales.

The mechanical performance is analysed and optimized in terms of the material’s constitution and composition, whereby tailored microstructures give tailored properties. The group’s research portfolio embraces both experimental, theoretical and computational mechanics. The group’s expertise builds on core disciplines like Solid Mechanics, Damage Mechanics, Fracture Mechanics, Computational Non-linear Mechanics, Materials Science. The research spans a variety of materials, including metals, composites, ceramics, paper, textiles, biogenic hybrid materials.

Application fields

Automotive: In automotive applications, the research in Mechanics of Materials relates to the performance of materials in crash situations, in harsh environments, such as engine components, tires, powertrains, or sensors and actuators.

MaTe • 25 years

Aerospace: Lifetime and reliability engineering are decisive for aerospace applications. The research programme Mechanics of Materials here contributes to the development of light-weight and high-strength solutions, damage and failure of composites, high-temperature materials for jet engines, ultra-strong landing gears, etc.

High-Tech systems: The failure of advanced high-tech systems is always rooted in the mechanical performance, for which we seek adequate solutions.

Micro-electronics & Micro-electromechanical systems: The development of flexible displays, electronic textiles, stretchable electronics, complex Systems-inPackage, all necessitate state-ofthe-art research on the underlying mechanics in direct relation to the structure of the materials involved.

Manufacturing technology: The research in the group focuses on additive manufacturing, where material properties are to controlled at small scales. Printing products by combining different materials with often conflicting properties constitutes a real challenge here.

Energy: The group is involved in the development of advanced materials

for nuclear fusion reactors and efficient battery systems for energy storage.

Materials technology: Focus is here given on dynamical metamaterials and mechanical metamaterials, allowing to mitigate wave propagation in solids or trigger unique mechanical properties.

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Multi-Scale Laboratory

The Multi-Scale lab of the Mechanics of Materials group takes a rather unique position as it bridges the gap between traditional materials science and mechanical characterisation, by integrating mechanical testing with (real-time and in situ) microscopic observation. With a focus on developing novel (miniature) testing devices and strategies, the lab allows for quantitative in situ microscopic measurements during deformation and mechanical characterisation of a broad class of materials, structures, MEMS etc. on a wide range of length scales from nanometres to centimetres. The lab perfectly fits in the research group’s mission, and enables a symbiosis between computational modelling and advanced experimentation across the scales.

MaTe lab

Microsystems The research mission of the Microsystems Section is to develop innovative technological concepts and fabrication methods for microsystems for a wide range of applications – that is, we do engineering at the microscale.

Our concepts are often inspired by biology, and our microsystems are often applied to understand biological processes that are important for health and disease. The section consists of four collaborating groups, which define the focus areas of the section: Microfluidics and Microactuation, Neuro-Nanoscale Engineering, Meso-Structured and Soft Materials, and Neuromorphic Engineering. Our educational mission is to provide teaching in the broad field

MaTe • 25 years

of microsystems, where especially hands-on practical teaching in the lab is an important aspect.

micromanufacturing technologies for use in life sciences applications.

Labs

The Microsystems group manages the Microfab lab, a state-of-the-art micro fabrication facility that houses a range of micro manufacturing technologies as well as a biolab. The capabilities range from layer deposition, lithography, surface modification, soft lithography, 3D printing, laser micromachining, to mechanical micromilling. The ML2 biolab is used for cell culture and biological cell and tissue analysis. Finally, the lab includes extensive facilities to carry out microfluidic and optofluidic experiments. The Microfab/Lab facilitates the development of new

We develop innovative technological concepts and fabrication methods for a wide range of applications, often in collaboration with industrial partners like Philips, ASML, and Micronit, and also with biomedical and clinical partners, like Erasmus MC and Maastricht UMC. Concrete applications of the section’s research range from organ-on-a-chip systems for cancer and brain research, pointof-care diagnostics, medical devices, wearable health sensors, water and air quality monitoring and purification, lithography machines, displays, and brain-inspired computing, to soft microrobotics.

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Application areas

MaTe lab

Orthopaedic Biomechanics Musculoskeletal tissues are produced, maintained and adapted by cells as a response to their biophysical environment in health and disease. Of the latter, degenerative diseases have become more prevalent with an increasing socioeconomic impact in our everaging population.

With increased longevity and a higher level of activity, current treatment methods with purely synthetic devices may be limited. Thus, our research mission is to expand our understanding of the biomechanical function of musculoskeletal tissues as well as their adaptive developmental and physiological nature and then to apply this new-found knowledge to explore and develop new treatment strategies. Our educational mission is to provide teaching in biomechanics/ mechanobiology, regenerative/ tissue engineering as applied to musculoskeletal system based on continuum mechanics, cell biology, anatomy/physiology and pathology.

MaTe • 25 years

Labs

The multi-disciplinary research is carried out in several laboratories which we help to manage. In vitro work is done in the Cell and Tissue Engineering Lab where cells and tissues can be: transfected, differentiated and grown; on selfdesigned and produced scaffolds; in bioreactors and micro-tissue platforms; and analyzed molecularly, chemically, and structurally with advanced microscopy. Tissues can also be conditioned, monitored and characterized in the Biomechanics Lab with Micro-CT imaging and custom-designed mechanical fixtures.

Application areas

Our group is organized by tissues, focusing on articular cartilage, bone, intervertebral disc and tendons/ ligaments. In each of these areas we combine diverse engineering and biological methods. We combine micro-imaging and finite element modelling to understand the adaptive structure-function relationships of

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bone and apply this to the treatment of fractures or osteoporosis. These methods are also combined with long-term in vitro culturing of tissue engineered bone to understand its complex remodeling processes and to advance the treatment of bone reconstruction. Unlike bone, cartilage does not self-repair, often resulting in osteoarthritis. Here we explore the role of damage accumulation on its ultrastructure and also how we can regenerate it to return painfree function of joints. Similarly, the unique development, structure and physiology of discs are leveraged to create new regenerative and repair treatments for disc degeneration, and the mechanobiological environment is manipulated to improved structure and function of healing or reconstructed tendons/ligaments.

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MaTe lab

Polymer Technology The mission of the group is to provide education on and conduct research in the broad area of Polymer Technology, i.e. the industrial arts of manufacturing of polymer-based products.

Design of polymer products and shaping processes benefit from a change from experimental trialand-error to quantitative predictive capability. The main objective is to provide knowledge and models for the prediction and understanding of structure development during processing and the resulting final properties of polymeric products.

These properties are determined by intrinsic (molecular) material parameters and, to a great extent, by the processing conditions.

MaTe • 25 years

Labs

The group benefits from five labs with state-of-the-art measurement devices like rheometers, extended dilatometry, flash DSC, a range of optical microscopes, nano indentation, tomography, and a dozen static and dynamic tensile testers with temperature and environmental control. To relate mechanical properties and flow conditions to one another, in real and model processing conditions, the labs are equipped with different-sized extruders, injection- and blow-molding machines. In addition, the lab is equipped with different types of 3D printers for polymers. The group is a frequent user of the advanced X-Ray facilities in Grenoble to study real-time structure development on the nano scale. Supplementary dedicated flow cells are available for

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fundamental work on soft matter, polymer solutions, and melts.

Application areas

Polymers are vital for energy, environment, and health. Polymers are mainly characterised by their low density, ease of processing and shaping, possibilities of functional integration, and an almost unlimited flexibility in molecular design.

Moreover they are in most cases relatively cheap. These characteristics determine not only the societal needs for improved polymer systems in a multitude of application areas like protection, isolation, transportation, communication, illumination, packaging, shielding, housing, furniture, clothing etc., but also set the resulting scientific challenges.

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drinks

MaTe • 25 years

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