SINTX Technologies is an innovative biomaterials and OEM company that develops and commercializes silicon nitride for various biomedical applications including the spine, dental, oral maxillofacial, podiatry, and arthroplasty markets.
Role in the project: ESR secondment host and co-supervisors of ESRs 1 synthesis of biocompatible, dense and porous Si3N4), 4 (topology optimisation of Si3N4 fusion implants ), 5 (osseointegration of Si3N4 implants) and 13 (mechanical evaluation of porous Si3N4 for spinal fusion).
B. Sonny Bal (MD, Ph. D, JD, MBA) is CEO and President of SINTX Technologies. As previous Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, he has experience in implant surgery, and served as Adjunct Professor of Materials Science at the University of Missouri at Rolla. At SINTX Technologies, a biomaterials company focused on developing silicon nitride implants for a variety of biomedical applications, Dr. Bal leads a highly-gifted team of professionals. Dr. Bal has published extensively on the biomedical applications of ceramics and serves on editorial boards of several peer-refereed orthopedic journals.
Bryan J. McEntire (Ph. D, MBA) is currently Chief Scientific Officer for SINTX Technologies, Inc., a position which he has held since 2012. He previously served as Vice President of Manufacturing from 2004 and Vice President of Research from 2006. He received BS (cum laude) and MBA degrees in Materials Science and Engineering and Operations Management from the University of Utah in 1978 and 1982, respectively, and his Ph.D. from the Kyoto Institute of Technology in 2015. Dr. McEntire has more than 45 years of industrial experience in research, development, and production of advanced ceramics, including prominent management positions at Ceramatec (Salt Lake City, UT, USA), Saint-Gobain Industrial Ceramics Corporation (Northboro, MA, and E. Granby, CT, USA), Applied Materials Corporation (Santa Clara, CA, USA), and now at SINTX Technologies (formerly, Amedica Corporation, Salt Lake City, UT, USA). Dr. McEntire is author or co-author of over 85 peer reviewed publications and holds ten patents. He was an invited short-course lecturer to the National Institute of Ceramic Engineers of the American Ceramic Society on the forming of ceramics for a 10-year period from 1986 to 1995. He was nominated and elevated to Fellow of the American Ceramic Society in 2012. His current research interests are in silicon nitride for biomedical applications.