Sarah Safavi​

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Project title

Design and manufacture of composite and structures for maximum biomechanical integration

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Supervisors

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Professor Peter Lee, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, The University of Melbourne

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Sarah Safavi has always been fascinated by technology and its impact on our lives which is why she decided to pursue a career in engineering. With both her parents being doctors, she also had a great interest in medicine, and it quickly became clear to her that the field of biomedical engineering was what she was most passionate about.

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Sarah studied Mechanical Engineering at the Dresden University of Technology in Germany. During that time, she had the opportunity to gain insights into biomechanics and implant development at the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology. This experience, as well as her time as a research assistant at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, not only further encouraged her to become a biomedical engineer but also to pursue a career in research.

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Sarah’s PhD project is dedicated to the improvement of longevity hip implants. Due to aseptic loosening, many patients undergo revision surgery a few years after implantation. The aim is to target this issue by developing additively manufactured personalised, porous structures with optimised material properties.

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The University of Melbourne caught Sarah’s attention as it is a renowned university with high expertise in the biomedical field and she is very happy about the opportunity to undertake her research here.