Wilson College of Textiles Students Present Research at Biomaterials Day  

Biomaterials Day, held earlier this spring at the Wilson College of Textiles, provided an opportunity for faculty, students and industry specialists across various fields of study to share research, promote collaboration and even try their hand at a three-minute presentation competition. 

Each year, the event is set up by the NC State Student Chapter of the Society for Biomaterials and allows students from any nearby school to share their research. Fatema Tuj Jahura and Nisha Jahan, two Ph.D. candidates in the Wilson College of Textiles fiber and polymer science program, are part of the NC State chapter and planned this year’s event. 

After several years of attending Biomaterials Day, Jahura and Jahan both agree that the event is a great opportunity for building connections and fostering collaboration. 

“There’s such diverse research that people are working on, so I think it’s a great platform for learning and collaborating with people,” Jahura says. 

Textiles’ role in biomaterials 

Biomaterials refer to any material, natural or synthetic, that interacts in a biological setting with the ultimate goal of improving human health. While fields of study like biomedical or chemical engineering appear to directly correlate to biomaterials, many overlook the integral role textiles play in the field.

Professor Martin King, one of the faculty advisors for the NC State Chapter of the Society for Biomaterials and an expert in the field, says textiles’ unique properties help set the discipline apart. 

“Just think of an example of a simple heart valve, which is made out of a metal ring. It also has a knitted sewing ring all the way around it. Why? Because you actually have to use a suture and a needle to attach it to the opening in the heart. And the textile is very robust – it can withstand all sorts of trauma.”

The research at the Wilson College of Textiles is varied: Jahan is currently working in Professor King’s lab to develop an implantable device that delivers chemotherapy to a localized area and Jahura is comparing toxicity between firefighting foam materials. 

Some of the other Wilson College Ph.D. students presenting research were Akanksha Pragya and Mahtab Khodadadi. Pragya is developing a foaming polymer that reduces skin irritation caused by prosthetic limbs, while Khodadadi is bioengineering a gel nanofiber for cardiac tissue applications. 

Diverse research opportunities     

Biomaterials Day was divided into three sessions, with the first two primarily featuring industry and student speakers in the biomaterials field. Some of the topics discussed included universal influenza vaccines, textile actuators’ role in creating rehabilitative products and methods of delivering stem cells to individuals after surgery. 

The third session was split up between a poster session, undergraduate presentations and the three-minute presentation challenge, where several graduate students had to boil their research down to three minutes and one visual slide. Merve Fedai, an NC State Ph.D. candidate in materials science and engineering, won this year’s challenge.

The event also helped students see their potential future opportunities in biomaterials. For students moving into the industry after graduation, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Becton Dickinson tabled at the event. For prospective graduate students, the event was a chance to see what research they could work on at the Wilson College.

“I think the undergraduate students come here and they get excited, like, ‘Okay, you are doing this research, I want to work in your group,” Jahan says. “And it’s also another opportunity to talk to undergraduate students and show we are doing cool stuff.”

Watch the video below to learn what students, alumni and faculty say makes this Ph.D. program unique.