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[January 2006]  
 

Career you wanted when you were at school?

A mechanical engineer.

University education
 
I did my undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at Xian Jiaotong University, one of the top Universities in China and with a very good reputation for engineering. My postgraduate study was at the University of Leeds, and supervised by Professor Duncan Dowson on Micro-Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication of Synovial Joints.

When did you decide you wanted to work in Medical Engineering?

After my undergraduate study in Xian, I had the opportunity to pursue my postgraduate study in the UK. I was interested in Tribology then, but was more fascinated by the application of tribology to biological systems, in particular our own synovial joints such as hips and knees. Therefore I decided to come to the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Leeds, with a world-wide reputation in the area of
Biotribology.

Current job, including a brief description of duties

I am currently Professor of Computational Bioengineering in the Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. Together with Professor John Fisher and Professor Eileen Ingham, we lead a multi-disciplinary team of 30 postdoctoral research fellows and 40 postgraduate research students, working in the areas of joint replacement biotribology and biocompatibility; tissue re-engineering and cartilage tissue substitution and using a combination of biological, computational and physical approaches. In addition, I am also the Programme Manager for our undergraduate Medical Engineering course. My main role here is to promote medical engineering through open days and other public awareness programmes in conjunction with colleagues within our Institute.

Previous jobs

After my postgraduate study at Leeds, I continued as a postdoctoral research fellow for 6 years before I moved to University of Bradford as a lecturer in Engineering Design first and then Medical Engineering. I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1999 and Professor in 2003.

How do you see the future of Medical Engineering in the next 10 years?

Medical engineering activities are going to expand. There are so many exciting opportunities, from meeting current and urgent needs of patients by optimizing current medical devices, to studying fundamental mechanical responses of cells, tissues and organs (mechanotransduction) and applying these to create functional tissue engineering devices in a longer term. Medical Engineers, as always, will have a much bigger role to play and the responsibilities to ensure the functionality of current medical devices as well as future tissue-engineered products.

Advice for any young members that want a career in Medical Engineering

It is important to have a good first degree in Engineering and followed by a postgraduate study focusing on medical engineering applications. This can either be done in an integrated MEng programme in Medical Engineering or a BEng in Engineering followed by an MSc in Medical Engineering. A higher PhD degree is also preferable.

University education
 
I did my undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at Xian Jiaotong University, one of the top Universities in China and with a very good reputation for engineering. My postgraduate study was at the University of Leeds, and supervised by Professor Duncan Dowson on Micro-Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication of Synovial Joints.

When did you decide you wanted to work in Medical Engineering?

After my undergraduate study in Xian, I had the opportunity to pursue my postgraduate study in the UK. I was interested in Tribology then, but was more fascinated by the application of tribology to biological systems, in particular our own synovial joints such as hips and knees. Therefore I decided to come to the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Leeds, with a world-wide reputation in the area of
Biotribology.

Current job, including a brief description of duties

I am currently Professor of Computational Bioengineering in the Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. Together with Professor John Fisher and Professor Eileen Ingham, we lead a multi-disciplinary team of 30 postdoctoral research fellows and 40 postgraduate research students, working in the areas of joint replacement biotribology and biocompatibility; tissue re-engineering and cartilage tissue substitution and using a combination of biological, computational and physical approaches. In addition, I am also the Programme Manager for our undergraduate Medical Engineering course. My main role here is to promote medical engineering through open days and other public awareness programmes in conjunction with colleagues within our Institute.

Previous jobs

After my postgraduate study at Leeds, I continued as a postdoctoral research fellow for 6 years before I moved to University of Bradford as a lecturer in Engineering Design first and then Medical Engineering. I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1999 and Professor in 2003.

How do you see the future of Medical Engineering in the next 10 years?

Medical engineering activities are going to expand. There are so many exciting opportunities, from meeting current and urgent needs of patients by optimizing current medical devices, to studying fundamental mechanical responses of cells, tissues and organs (mechanotransduction) and applying these to create functional tissue engineering devices in a longer term. Medical Engineers, as always, will have a much bigger role to play and the responsibilities to ensure the functionality of current medical devices as well as future tissue-engineered products.

Advice for any young members that want a career in Medical Engineering

It is important to have a good first degree in Engineering and followed by a postgraduate study focusing on medical engineering applications. This can either be done in an integrated MEng programme in Medical Engineering or a BEng in Engineering followed by an MSc in Medical Engineering. A higher PhD degree is also preferable.

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