Our ETN will train 12 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) to acquire key competencies, enabling them to perform world-class research and become international leaders in Europe’s medical devices industry.This ETN focuses on Surface Integrity for Micro/Nano Processing of Polymers and is a European Research Network for high performance Medical Devices. By working closely with industry, the SIMPPER_MedDev ETN has identified 6 target polymer medical devices that will achieve new functionality through using surface micro/nano structures, as summarised in Table 1.0. Our ETN will train 12 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) to acquire key competencies, enabling them to perform world-class research and become international leaders in Europe’s medical devices industry. The three scientific objectives of this network are:
1) Establish a design strategy for surface micro/nano structures that provide required functionality for polymer medical devices;
2) Develop fabrication process chains to create micro/nano structures via micro/nano moulding & forming, and micro/nano additive and subtractive manufacturing of various polymer materials;
3) Establish how surface integrity affects the relationship between polymer micro/nano processing and associated part performance, thereby optimising the efficacy and performance of medical devices.
The training objective of SIMPPER_MedDev is to ensure that 12 outstanding ESRs become expert on precision processing of polymers for medical devices and products through an international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach, thereby improving their career prospects and employability. This will be ensured by the SIMPPER_MedDev consortium of 5 research-intensive universities, 10 leading manufacturers of important classes of medical devices and medical products (6 MNCs and 4 SMEs), and an internationally recognised orthopaedics hospital that spans 5 European countries. The deep involvement of world-leading industry partners in the training network will ensure that improvements beyond the state-of-the-art translate into the next generation of designs for medical devices and that 12 ESRs will be trained in all of the design, manufacturing, evaluation and commercial aspects of this interdisciplinary and intersectoral field, and they are provided with key transferable skills, helping to ensure that Europe remains at the forefront of the worldwide medical devices manufacturing industry.
