Dr. Sarac has recently been granted an International Joint Project from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) entitled “Thermoplastic Net-Shaping of Low-Density and Biocompatible Ti-based Metallic Glasses for Dental Implants”. This specific grant aims for supporting bilateral research projects with closely integrated content. The co-proposers of the project from the Austrian side are Prof. Dr.-Ing.habil. Dr.h.c. Jürgen Eckert (Professor and Head of the Department of Materials Physics of the University of Leoben and Director of the Erich Schmid Institute of Materials Science of the Austrian Academy of Sciences - ESI), and Dr. Florian Spieckermann (Senior Scientist University of Leoben). This year the lead agency was FWF, where partner organization is the French National Research Agency (ANR). The project applicants from the French side are Prof. Damien Fabrègue (project applicant, MATEIS laboratory, INSA Lyon), Prof. Dr. Jerôme Chevalier, (Head of MATEIS laboratory, INSA Lyon), and Prof Dr. Jean-Marc Pelletier (MATEIS laboratory, INSA Lyon). The overall budget granted for this collaborative project is for 3 years, and is approximately 650,000 EU. The collaborative project is expected to start in 05/2019.
The main goal of this project is to develop a unique way of manufacturing Ti-MGs with excellent forming characteristics along with biocompatibility. Design of a novel Ti-MG while considering the casting dimensions and microformability, assessment of the thermoplastic net-shaping (TPN) capabilities, material characterization before and after forming of dental implants, and biocompatibility tests of these implants will be the primary goal of this research field.
Dr. Baran Sarac (project applicant, Senior Scientist/Group Leader at ESI) is a specialist in metallic glass development and processing. He has received his PhD degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Yale University in the topic of generating highly plastic and tough metallic glasses by introducing hierarchical microarchitectures via thermoplastic forming. During his graduation, he has received the prestigious Harding Bliss prize - selected doctoral student who has done the most to further the intellectual life of the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science. In 2015, he has received the prestigious Springer award with his book publication entitled “Microstructure-Property Optimization in Metallic Glasses”. He has a wide experience in the field of metallic glasses: synthesis, architectural material design, characterization. His background on porous architectures in both experimental and computational fields, as well as his broad knowledge on compression molding-based patterning of metallic glasses will be essential for the preparation of the customizable dental implants.