NU-SPINE Network Members
Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) and their Projects
ESR 1. Ioannis Katsaros
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I am a PhD student working in the NU-Spine network. The main focus of my PhD is material development of silicon nitride for biomedical, mainly spinal, applications. I am aiming to produce mechanically sound, osteoconductive and antibacterial silicon nitride materials either through spark plasma sintering or through various surface modification techniques. My educational background consists of Master’s degrees in materials science and engineering and biomechanics at the NTU of Athens and Loughborough Univeristy, respectively.
Contact: ioannis.katsaros@angstrom.uu.se
ESR 2. Salim Ghandour
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I am a PhD student working as part of the NU-SPINE network. My focus is on developing spinal fusion implant designs. My interest in the medical field stems from my undergraduate course at the University of Leeds where I worked on developing a methodology to calculate friction on lubricated three-dimensional surfaces, specifically hip joint prosthetics. I also provide assistance in ongoing MSc projects within the group.
Contact: salim.ghandour@angstrom.uu.se
ESR 3. Navaneethakrishnan Pugazhendi
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I am a doctoral student working in the NU-SPINE network. My interest in the field of ‘surface coatings’ had started during my undergraduate with the development of biopolymer thin film coatings by various techniques. Further, the role of a student researcher on high-temperature thermal spray protective coatings at Fraunhofer UMSICHT Research Institute, Germany has highly excited me to advance my career in the same field.
Short CV
- 2019 - current PhD in Mechanical Engineering Sciences with a specialization in Surface coatings, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
- 2014 – 2017 MSc in Materials Science, University of Stuttgart, Germany
- 2007 – 2011 BE in Materials Science and Engineering. College of engineering, Guindy, Anna University, India
Contact: n.pugazhendi@leeds.ac.uk
ESR 4. Thijs Smit
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I am a PhD Candidate in Biomechanics at the ETH Zurich. During my master studies at the Delft University of Technology, I specialized in computational mechanics and gained experience with programming FEM and topology optimization codes. In my PhD I apply that experience to computationally design and optimize spinal fusion implants.
Contact: thijs.smit@hest.ethz.ch
ESR 5. Seung Hun (Sean) Lee
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I am a PhD Candidate at ETH Zürich working on Osseointegration of Biomaterials for Spinal Implants. My research interest are Tissue Engineering, Spine, Bone, Biofabrication, Biomaterials, Stem Cell.
Short CV:
- 2019 - Current Ph.D. in Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- 2017 - 2019 M.S. in Bioengineering, Seoul National University, Korea
- 2014 - 2016 Surgical Education Trainer, Olympus, Korea
- 2013 - 2014 Cardiac Angiography Product Specialist, Siemens
- 2012 - 2013 Researcher, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- 2009 - 2012 B.S. in Biomedical Engineering / Pre-Med, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
Contact: seunghun.lee@hest.ethz.ch
ESR 6. Faizal Kamarol Zaman
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I have a background in Medicine where I underwent pre-clinical studies at University of St Andrews and continued with clinical training at The University of Manchester before qualified as a medical doctor in 2011. I worked as a junior doctor in Malaysia for a short while before pursuing a Masters degree in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Surrey in 2014. I graduated with a Distinction and presented his Masters’ dissertation on biomechanics at the Healthcare Technologies Student and Early Career Awards 2016 organised by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) in London.
Contact: m.f.kamarolzaman@leeds.ac.uk
ESR 7. Beril Yenigul
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I'm an Early Stage Researcher in the Institute of Thermofluids, in Mechanical Engineering. My research interests are biomechanics and tribology.
Short CV:
- 2019-current: PhD in Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds
- 2017-2019 Project Engineer, Material Technologies R&D department of Arcelik Global
- 2017-2019 MSc in Materials Engineering, Istanbul Technical University
- 2012-2017 B.Sc in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Istanbul Technical University
Contact: mnbsy@leeds.ac.uk
ESR 8. Kaushikk Iyer
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My name is Kaushikk Iyer and I am from Mumbai, India. I earned my undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering from Indira Gandhi National Open University in India in 2015 and progressed toward my Double master’s degree programme starting from Russia at Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University and Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland from 2016 - 2018. I specialized in Powerplant Engineering during my first year of masters in Russia and further, with academic excellence, I was awarded full scholarship to continue my second year in Finland and graduated with a specialization in Mechatronic System Design. now I am employed as a Research Engineer at Key Engineering Solutions in Leeds, UK where I am working on my PhD project, that is to develop an advanced control system for a spinal wear simulator, located in Leeds University, for tribological testing of implants.
Contact: k.iyer@key-es.co.uk
Huasi Zhou - PhD STUDENT
I am a PhD student and a member of the NU-Spine Network. My research focus is on developmet of the ceramic coatings to improve wear resistance and optimise implant design.
Short CV:
- 2020-current PhD in Engineering Sciences with Specialization in Materials Science, Uppsala University, Sweden
- 2018-2019 MSc in Advanced Material Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, UK
- 2014-2018 BSc in Material Science and Engineering, Hohai University, China
Contact: huasi.zhou@angstrom.uu.se
ESR 10. Lucia Koelle
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I am a PhD candidate at ETH Zürich and part of the NU-SPINE network. Within this project, I develop an all-ceramic total disc replacement. To this end, I use simulations that consider biomechanics as well as material properties.
My academic background are a Medical Engineering M.Sc from the University of Stuttgart and a Medical Technology B.Sc. from the Universities of Tübingen and Stuttgart.
Contact: lucia.koelle@hest.ethz.ch
ESR 11. Yijun Zhou
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I am a doctoral student within the NU-SPINE network. I am working on numerical optimization, with special focus on the screw and other implants. My research interests are computational mechanics, structural optimization, topology optimization, structural dynamics
Short CV
- 2019 - current PhD in Biomechanics, Uppsala University, Sweden
- 2017 - 2019 MSc in Civil Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Germany
- 2012 - 2016 BSc in Civil Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, China
Contact: yijun.zhou@angstrom.uu.se Personal website: https://yijunzhou.net/
ESR 12. Hossein Ansaripour
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I studied Biomechanical Engineering at Polytechnic University of Milan (Italy). The most important research I have conducted, was regarding my master thesis. It portrays the based-specific patient finite element analysis of trans-tibial amputation utilizing image processing and numerical procedure techniques. In my undergraduate years, I have acquired a robust background in the basic Mechanical Engineering subjects including continuum, solid and fluid mechanics at Power and Water University of Technology in Tehran (Iran). Afterwards, I have worked as a Mechanical engineer at SGS company for three years. At that time, I inspected elevators corresponding to EN 81-1 safety standards. Hence, I achieved profound experiences in team working, analytical solving, quality control (QC) and instructing new-comer inspectors. With my background in engineering and my experience in industry, I have realized that my true passion is conducting technical researches in bioengineering areas.
Contact: h.ansaripour@ceramtec.de
ESR 13. Xiaoyu Du
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I am a PhD student and a member of the NU-Spine Project. I work on the dynamic response of spinal implants, developing novel testing methods for the evaluation of the non-linear dynamic response of materials, including impact and frequency-dependent resonance as well as direction dependent hardening or softening effects. My research interests are Biomaterials, Structural Dynamics, Finite elements analysis, Bone tissue engineering, Additive manufacturing.
Short CV
- 2019 - Current PhD student in Biomechanics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- 2018 - 2019 QA engineer, Shanghai MicroPort Medical (Group) Co., Ltd, China
- 2015 - 2018 MSc in Materials Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, China
- 2011 - 2015 BSc in Materials Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, China
Contact: xiaoyu.du@hest.ethz.ch
ESR 14. Philipp Keller
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I am a PhD-Student at the University of Leeds and a member of the Innovative Training Network NUSPINE. My project focusses on corrosion engineering of spinal implants. I am interested in the work and research within the areas of electrochemistry, materials and surface engineering and corrosion, especially in combination with biomedical devices.
Short CV:
- 2020 – Current PhD in Mechanical Engineering with a specialization in Corrosion and Materials Science; University of Leeds, UK
- 2017 – 2019 Work in the Medical Technology Sector; Ecuador
- 2015 – 2016 Master of Science in Corrosion Control Engineering; The University of Manchester, UK
- 2010 – 2014 Bachelor of Science in Industrial Medical Technology; Furtwangen University - Tuttlingen, Germany
Contact: p.keller1@leeds.ac.uk
ESR 15. Estefanía Echeverri Correa
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I am a PhD student in biomaterials at Uppsala University. I decided to study bioengineering because of my interest in searching and applying technological solutions to the problems of life sciences and medicine. I have focused my studies and research on and biomechanics with the aim of acquiring the necessary skills to carry out research in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Short CV
- 2019 - current PhD in Engineering Sciences with a specialization in Materials Science, Uppsala University, Sweden
- 2015 – 2016 MSc in Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Lorraine, France
- 2010 – 2015 BSc in Bioengineering, University of Antioquia, Colombia
Contact: estefania.echeverri@angstrom.uu.se
