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We hosted placements for eight University of ºù«Ӱҵ undergraduates to undertake a research project within the Institute each led by one of our Early Career Researchers. Projects were on a wide variety of topics related to our five research themes and students enjoyed being able to participate both on campus and remotely. 

We are very proud to present their hard work on our website.

Find out more about the programme

Investigating three-dimensional localised effects of age, disease and treatment on mouse bone geometry using Principal Component Analysis

Supervisor: Stamatina Moraiti

Placement student: Matthew Bates

Download poster (PDF 628KB)

I’ve had a really great time working with Matina over the summer and I’ve learnt lots of new software and skills along the way.

Stamatina Moraiti

My second time joining the Insigneo Summer Placement proved to be a great experience for me. It confirmed my passion for teaching and interacting with students. This programme gave me the opportunity to apply and test several techniques of project managing, planning and teaching to provide the right feedback and support as the project supervisor.

I had the great opportunity to collaborate with Matthew. Matthew is a student in Computer Science, and our different scientific backgrounds made this multidisciplinary research project very interesting. Our collaboration yielded fruitful results, making a significant contribution to the advancement of my PhD research. These fresh findings fuel my motivation for further exploration.

The project involved the understanding and implementation of many different image processing techniques and computational analysis and while it was challenging in the short term of two months, Matthew responded efficiently.

Overall, my involvement in the Insigneo Summer Programme was an enriching experience and I would like to acknowledge Insigneo for giving us this opportunity and thank Matthew for his engagement.

Wirelessly Loaded Conductive Hydrogel for Electrically Controlled Drug Delivery

Supervisor: Arua Clayton Da Silva

Placement student: Xiaofeng Hu

Download poster (PDF 974KB)

Predicting fracture risk in cancer patients

Supervisor: Fiona Gibson

Placement student: Tshepang Dipholo

Download poster (PDF 870KB)

I am Tshepang Dipholo and this past July I graduated from the University of ºù«Ӱҵ with a MEng (Hons) in Bioengineering with a Year in Industry Degree. I had the opportunity to take part in the Insigneo Summer Research Programme to further develop my Finite Element Analysis skills. I developed finite element models during my year in Industry placement and a knee model for my final-year project to study how obesity is damaging to articular cartilage. The summer research placement gave me an opportunity to further build on these key skills.

The aims of the project were to build a model of a single vertebrae from clinical CT scans and test different loading conditions to assess their impact on the mechanical stress response of the vertebrae. Two loading conditions were simulated as shown on the poster. Through the support of my supervisors, I got training on how to use high-performance computing which allowed me to run the simulations quicker. My ability to use Ansys as a computational modelling and simulation tool improved. I also developed effective communication, time management, problem-solving and research skills. I had the opportunity to attend the Insigneo Showcase in July and learned a lot from the presentations and discussions around smart devices and sensors, computational modelling in medicine, and Healthcare data and AI. During this placement, I also had the opportunity to attend the IMSB seminars which expanded my knowledge base on the current research work being undertaken.

Thank you for the opportunity and many thanks to my supervisors for their advice, feedback, and support throughout the summer.

Simulating bone formation with an agent-based model

Supervisor: Jack Ashurst

Placement student: Alvaro Yupanqui

Download poster (PDF 371KB)

Optimisation of the porous structure of polyHIPE scaffolds for angiogenic applications

Supervisor: Caitlin Ryan

Placement student: Chris Barkshire

Download poster (PDF 7.5MB)

Calibration and Reliability Testing of Soft Sensor Gloves for Monitoring Neuromuscular Diseases.

Supervisor: Nicholas Hagis

Placement student: Saloni Hajare

Download poster (PDF 1.2MB)

Simplification of a microfluidic device fabrication method

Supervisor: Areli Munive Olarte

Placement student: Antoine Bassil

Download poster (PDF 10.8MB)

The eight weeks undergoing this summer research has immersed me in the field of microfluidic organ-on-a-chip devices and the complexity it holds. I had the opportunity to design and try different 3D models; and later learned and used different surface modification techniques and polymerized high internal phase emulsions. Once designs were completed, we were able to test fluid perfusion and the device using stem cells, to observe cell migration and morphology within the designs. Finally, this experience has allowed to me improve certain skills, such as CAD and 3D printing, in addition to learn new skills, such as microfluidic device assembly and immunostaining; in addition to fully immerse me in an interdisciplinary project where different disciplines need to be considered such as biomechanics, biology, and materials science.

Areli Munive Olarte

It's been a pleasure to supervise Antoine on an Insigneo Summer Research Project because he was a very enthusiastic and hardworking student. I felt confident and able to follow an organised and detailed experiment plan. Like Last year, it was a challenge to maintain the student interest in the project, but in my opinion, we both enjoyed it. I recommend this programme to undergrads to gain intensive and grateful lab work experience and for PhD students who wish to improve their teaching skills.