Jerry Fuh, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
National University of Singapore
jerry.fuh@nus.edu.sg
Biography:
Dr. Jerry Fuh is a Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Co-Director of NUS Centre for Additive Manufacturing (AM.NUS) focused on biomedical technologies. He is a Fellow of SME and ASME and a PE from California, USA. Dr. Fuh has devoted himself to the research of Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes or 3D Printing (3DP) since 1995. He and his colleagues have established the NUS’s AM/3DP research programme focusing on biomedical applications and set up an advanced 3DP laboratories through several research & development grants with industrial collaborations.
In 2005, he received the IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award for the work on “Development of Rapid Prototyping Technologies for Precision and Biomedical Engineering” from the Institute of Engineers, Singapore (IES) in recognition of outstanding engineering skills which have made notable contributions to progress engineering in Singapore. He has published over 350 technical papers in advanced manufacturing and design, and supervised over 80 graduate students with over 50 are PhD students. He also serves in more than 10 refereed journals as Editor, Associate Editor or Editorial Board Members related to design, manufacturing and AM/3DP
Topic title：Electro-hydrodynamic jetting 3D PCL/PPy Conductive Scaffolds for Peripheral Nerve Injury Repair
Abstract：Conductivity is a desirable property of an ideal nerve guide conduit (NGC) that is being considered for peripheral nerve regeneration. In this study, a biodegradable and conductive block copolymer of PPy and Poly-caprolactone (PPy-b-PCL) was used to fabricate 3D porous NGCs using a novel electro-hydrodynamic (EHD)-jet 3D printing process which offers superior control over fibre diameter, pore size, porosity and fibre alignment. PCL/PPy scaffolds with three different concentrations of PPy-b-PCL (0.5%, 1%, and 2% v/v) were fabricated as a mesh (pore size 125±15 μm) and the effect of incorporation of PPy-b-PCL on me-chanical properties, biodegradability and conductivity of the NGCs were studied. Our results suggest that PCL/PPy scaffolds can be a promising material for guidance conduits in nerve tissue regeneration. The use of neural stem cells on electro-conductive scaffolds produces a symbiotic combination that may have high potential in future for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.
