Engineering - Mechanical & Biomedical Engineering - Structured

Course Overview

The Structured PhD, full-time, is a 4-year programme which offers added value to the core component of doctoral training. Students on this programme are offered disciplinary or dissertation specific modules, as well as generic and transferable skills designed to meet the needs of an employment market that is wider than academia. The programme is flexible and student centred, as candidates choose their own pathways in consultation with their Supervisor and Graduate Research Committee.

PhD - High Honours standard in the primary degree.

Course Code: PHDS-MBE



PhD (full-time, four years); applications are made online via the University of Galway Postgraduate Applications System.



- New entrants may register for the programme from September to March each year. The thesis remains central to the award of the PhD and is weighted at 330 ECTs.



- Students select appropriate skills modules in consultation with their Supervisor and/or Postgraduate Research Committee as follows: At least 10 ECTs in two of the three skills categories, and an overall total of at least 30 ECTs



Skills Categories: (i) Problem Based Learning; (ii) Publication/Dissemination; (iii) Formal Training (from a range of Discipline-specific, Interdisciplinary and Generic modules)

Structured PhD, full-time - (four years duration).

Research Areas


Dr Mark Bruzzi

Deformation and Failure of Engineering materials

Fatigue failure of Solid Materials

Constitutive behaviour of biological materials

Development of Active Materials

Design and Development of Medical Devices


Dr Kathryn Cormican

Technology innovation Management

Product Design & Development

Enterprise Systems Design & Analysis


Ms Mary Dempsey

Business Process Engineering

Logistics

Operations Strategy

Emergency Planning


Dr Pat Donnellan

Health and safety management systems and risk management

Quality Management Systems


Dr John Eaton

Computational and experimental fluid dynamics.

Aerodynamics of flight vehicles, propulsion systems and components.

Aeroacoustics of turbulent flows.

Turbomachinery fluid dynamics.

Biofluid mechanics and flow systems.

Multidisciplinary design optimisation.


Mr Enda Fallon

Human Reliability in Health Care Systems

A Best Practice Occupational Health & Safety Management System for Networked Organisations in the Manufacturing Sector

Integrated Management Systems for Biomedical Device Manufacturing Companies

Health & Safety and Ergonomics in the Professional Athletes Workplace


Ms Martina Kelly

Ergonomics/Human Factors

Usability

Safety Management Systems

Risk Management in Regulated Environments


Professor Sean Leen

Computational solid mechanics

Structural integrity

Fatigue

Fretting and wear

Plasticity, creep and superplasticity

Modelling of manufacturing processes


Dr Pat McGarry

Multiscale cell and tissue mechanics

Active cell modelling

Biomechanics of hard and soft tissue

Cardiovascular and orthopaedic implant and device design.

Linear and non-linear computational method development and application in biomedical and materials engineering


Professor Peter McHugh

Computational micromechanics in the engineering analysis of complex materials and systems Biomechanics of hard and soft tissue

Multi-scale analysis methods for determination of structure-property relationships in biological and implanted materials

Computational methods in biomedical engineering applied to linear and non-linear problems, using implicit and explicit solution algorithms

Medical implant and device analysis and design.


Dr Laoise McNamara

Mechanical characterisation of biological tissues

Bone cell biology

Mechanobiology

Bone tissue regeneration in vitro

Finite element modelling

Adaptive modelling of biological processes


Dr Padraig Molloy

Development of technology based solutions for health and living, particulaly systems that are relevant to the disabled and elderly.

Product and production systems design.

Built environment simulation and control systems development.


Professor Paul Nolan

Computer algebra in web-based course delivery.

Simulation based training using internet technologies.

Virtual reality prototyping of biomedical devices.


Dr Conchúr Ó Brádaigh

Processing of thermoplastic composite materials

Liquid moulding of thermoplastic composite using monomer systems

Mechanical testing of advanced composites

Recycling of composite materials

Application to innovative sporting, automotive and wind energy applications


Professor Abhay Pandit

Extracellular matrix development for soft tissue applications

Delivery of therapeutic (viral and non-viral) biomolecules delivery through novel tethering mechanisms

Tissue Engineering: Scaffold design, Biomimetics

Biomaterial enhanced repair and regeneration


Dr Nathan Quinlan

Biomedical fluid dynamics (pulmonary, cardiovascular and cellular applications)

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics - mesh-free Lagrangian modelling of fluid dynamics

Fluid dynamics of droplet formation

Needle-free intradermal and pulmonary devices

Doppler Global Velocimetry and Particle Image Velocimetry

Fluid dynamics and thermodynamics in high speed flows

Propeller and wing aerodynamics


Dr Wenxin Wang

Functional Dendritic Polymers for Controlled Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering

Multifunctional Nanocarriers (nanoparticles, micelles, vesicles) for Therapeutic Biomolecular Delivery

Functional Biomaterials for Wound Healing

Temperature, PH and Ion Responsive Polymeric Materials

Controlled/Living Polymerisation Techniques


Dr Dimitrios Zeugolis

Biomaterials; Tissue Engineering; Bioengineering; Nanotechnology; Soft Tissue Repair / Regeneration (tendon, skin, cornea, nerve); Macromolecular Crowding; Extracellular Matrix Biology; Scaffold Stabilisation & Functionalisation; Directional Growth of Cells for Neotissue Formation; Sustained Release of Therapeutic Molecules; Drug Delivery / Release