Associate Professor · bio-TIE Lab
Department of Biomechanical Engineering · TU Delft, The Netherlands
Leading research at the intersection of biomimetics, additive manufacturing, and tissue interface engineering. Our lab designs next-generation bio-inspired materials and implants that bridge the gap between hard and soft biological tissues.
Associate Professor leading the bio-TIE (BIOmimetic Tissue InterfacEs) Lab â a multidisciplinary research group at the intersection of biomechanics, advanced manufacturing, and bioinspired design.
Develops sustainable bio-based inks for 3D printing with applications spanning biomedical to agricultural sectors.
A startup spun out from PhD research, focused on AI-driven design of patient-specific medical devices.
Developing next-generation 3D-printed flexible acetabular mesh for revision hip surgery, redefining orthopaedic implant solutions.
The bio-TIE Lab investigates the mechanics and design of tissue interfaces using advanced manufacturing and computational tools.
Designing bio-inspired interfaces between hard and soft biological tissues using multi-material 3D printing and biomimetic architectures. Our work on functionally graded interfaces addresses critical challenges in implant integration.
Pioneering multi-material and 4D printing techniques for shape-morphing implants, biodegradable scaffolds, and programmable metamaterials. Includes non-planar 3D printing, two-photon polymerization, and bitmap composite strategies.
Engineering auxetic, buckling-driven, and action-at-a-distance metamaterials with programmable mechanical properties. Leveraging AI and machine learning for inverse design and optimization.
Patient-specific implants for orthopedics, mandibular reconstruction, and spinal cage design. Combining finite element modeling, topology optimization, and clinical biomechanics.
Drawing inspiration from natural structures (bone, roots, shells) to design next-generation biomaterials. Includes food-waste biomaterials, sustainable inks for 3D printing, and biodegradable implants.
Engineering the transition zone between dissimilar biological tissues â bone-cartilage, bone-tendon, implant-bone â through graded materials, hierarchical microarchitectures, and cell-guiding scaffolds. The core mission of the bio-TIE Lab.
Click any paper to expand details. Papers marked Nature are published in Nature-family journals.
Silicon microring resonator arrays with polymer cladding for real-time two-dimensional force mapping via elasto-optic transduction. The sensor arrays achieve a force resolution down to 12 µN, demonstrated with a five-ring linear array and a 10Ã5 two-dimensional array at 15 µm pitch â enabling high-resolution tactile sensing for biomedical and robotic applications.
A comprehensive review of non-planar additive manufacturing strategies using hydrogel-based inks, covering flow control mechanisms and toolpath optimization for complex 3D bioprinting applications including extrusion control, slicing algorithms, multi-axis systems, and support-free strategies.
Investigation of magnetic cells and scaffolds as a novel approach for bone tissue engineering, exploring how magnetic stimulation can enhance osteogenic differentiation and scaffold integration for next-generation orthopedic implants.
Programmable shape-morphing 3D microarchitectures fabricated using two-photon polymerization (2PP) of temperature-responsive pNIPAM hydrogel, capable of rapid and reversible actuation. Enables precise, non-invasive, controllable deformation for soft robotics and microfluidic systems.
Design, additive manufacturing, and evaluation of shape-morphing porous implants with kinematic structures for three acetabular defect types (posterior wall, cranial-posterior, central-posterior) in revision total hip arthroplasty. Demonstrates superior defect filling and mechanical stability.
Development of mechanically interlocked interfaces between hydrogels and polylactide using multi-material 3D printing, achieving high-performance combination of mechanical performance and biocompatibility for Hard-soft interface applications.
A novel approach to suppress torsional buckling instabilities in auxetic meta-shells by combining auxeticity and orthotropy in cylindrical metamaterial shells. The work opens new design pathways for mechanically robust lightweight structures with negative Poisson's ratio under large twist angles.
A design approach that harnesses anisotropic deformation and micro-defect formation during fused deposition modeling to create tailor-made curved geometries from initially 2D flat disks. Size and distribution of imperfections can be controlled by varying printing speed and number of printed materials. Featured in Springer Nature's "Behind the Paper" series.
A comprehensive overview of 4D printing for biomedical applications, covering shape-memory polymers, hydrogels, and composite materials that respond to biological and physical stimuli for stents, occluders, microneedles, drug delivery systems, wound closures, and implantable medical devices.
Development of functionally graded soft-hard interface prostheses for temporomandibular joint replacement. Five FGM designs â including hard, hard-soft, and three gradual transitions â were evaluated, significantly improving mandibular kinematics and reducing joint reaction forces.
A forward-looking perspective on orthopedic meta-implants â next-generation implants harnessing mechanical metamaterial principles to achieve programmable stiffness, auxeticity, and shape-morphing properties not found in conventional implants. Published open access under Creative Commons (CC BY).
Deep-DRAM â a size-agnostic inverse design framework combining deep learning and conditional variational autoencoders â generates random-network lattice structures with predefined elastic properties and predefined dimensions. Featured in SciTechDaily and other media as a breakthrough in AI-driven metamaterial design.
A bioinspired design framework for bi-material soft-hard interfaces based on triply periodic minimal surfaces and collagen-like triple helices. Biomimetic architectural strategies dramatically improve interface strength and energy absorption in 3D-printed composites mimicking natural tissue junctions such as bone-tendon connections.
A voxel-level design strategy for multi-material 3D printing that enables rational positioning of material building blocks to achieve high-fidelity replication of soft-hard interfaces with multiple simultaneous functional targets.
Editorial and overview for a landmark special issue on metamaterials, covering design principles, material selection, functional targets, and fabrication strategies â providing a comprehensive roadmap for the field.
Deep learning framework for rare-event identification in multi-material 3D printed mechanical metamaterials â discovering extreme-property designs that conventional sampling methods would miss. Explores hard/soft phase distributions across planar lattice architectures.
Comprehensive review of design principles for additive manufacturing of biomaterials across metals, polymers, and ceramics. Covers library-based design, topology optimisation, bioinspired design, and meta-biomaterials. One of the most-cited and most-viewed review articles in the journal.
Multi-material buckling-driven metamaterials with high programmability, demonstrating double-side buckling modes alongside conventional instability modes. Applications include force switches, kinematic controllers, and pick-and-place end-effectors for soft robotics. Featured by the Royal Society of Chemistry.