Research
Dr. Stephanie Willerth
Stem cells hold tremendous promise for engineering replacements for diseased or damaged tissue. - Dr. Stephanie Willerth
Research spotlight
The research lab directed by Dr. Stephanie Willerth focuses on engineering 3D scaffolds to direct the behaviour of stem cells as they differentiate in different types of tissues, including neural tissue similar to that found in the spinal cord.
Specifically, she uses embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells for these applications, as these cells can become any cell type found in the body. These engineered tissues derived from stem cells could serve as a possible treatment for patients suffering from spinal cord injuries.
This research program corresponds with British Columbia's commitment to finding potential cures for SCI. Dr. Willerth belongs to iCORD (International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries), a BC-based organization dedicated to spinal cord injury research.
This tissue engineering-based research program is the first of its kind at the University of Victoria, providing unique opportunities for students to access the resources of both the engineering and neuroscience programs, as Dr. Willerth holds joint appointments in both the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Division of Medical Sciences
Visit Dr. Willerth's website or read this article in The Ring to learn more about her research.
Research areas in the department
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Advanced Materials
- Aeronautics and Aerospace
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computational and Continuum Mechanics
- Computational Design and Computer Aided Engineering
- Alternate Energy Technologies and Systems
- Industrial Sensing and Optics
- Mechatronics and Controls
- Micro-Electromechanical Systems
- Ocean Engineering and Ocean Energy
- Robotics and Mechanisms
- Thermofluids Science and Transport Phenomena
Advanced Manufacturing back to top
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Adaptive manufacturing systems (AOR Laboratory); Micromachining. |
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Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS); Microassembly of 3D microstructures; Fabrication of 3D MEMS; Photolithographic based micromachining. |
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Automated generation of optimal CNC tool paths for machining sculptured parts; intelligent systems; Machine vision, and optimization. |
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Micromachining; Miniature or micro-scale machine tool and systems; Ultrafast laser-based manufacturing; 5-axis freeform micro-machining; Micro-scale manufacturing processes and systems; Cutting mechanisms in micro-machining; Cutting mechanics and dynamics. |
Advanced Materials back to top
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Biomedical materials. |
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Crystal growth of semiconductors for opto-electronic; Photo-voltaic and medical imaging devices; Materials characterization. (Crystal Growth Lab) |
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Materials processing; Materials characterization; Crystal growth; Molecular beam epitaxy and metal-organic chemical vapour deposition; Self-propagation high-temperature synthesis of materials; Electron microscopy; Electron interferometry; Electron holography; Confocal laser holography; Microgravity sciences; Property measurement of materials. |
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Carbon nanotube (CNT) composite processing; Manufacturability of CNT composites. |
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Residual stress and phase transformations in materials; Piezoelectric devices and sensors; Electrical and mechanical properties of piezoelectrics. |
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B. Sawicki |
XRF spectroscopy. |
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Advanced composites. |
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Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine, Biomaterial Scaffolds for Controlling Stem Cell |
Aeronautics and Aerospace back to top
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Adaptive optics. |
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Propeller and airfoil design. |
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Materials processing in microgravity. |
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Flight control system. |
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Advanced composites. |
Biomedical Engineering back to top
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Fluid and biomedical sensor development. |
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Haptic rending of tool-tissue interaction for cooperative surgical interventions; Tele-rehabilitation; Virtual reality-based post-stroke rehabilitation. |
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BioMEMS for capture and sorting of biological cells; Automated biological cell detection and localization; Automated cell injection and monitoring; Hand rehabilitation machine; Implantable wireless BioMEMS for muscle EMG signal monitoring. |
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Portable diagnosis device for performing on-site assay; Assay based analysis and diagnosis. |
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A Medical device based on acoustic confocal holography. |
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Biomedical device manufacturing and scaffold design and developments for regenerative medicine. |
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Biomedical devices: Fluid dynamics and design aspects of replacement heart valves. |
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Fluid-structure interaction of heart valves and disease. |
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Application of electrorestrictive polymers to prosthetics and artificial muscles. |
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Minimally invasive fibre-optic sensors. |
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Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine, Biomaterial Scaffolds for Controlling Stem Cell Differentiation. |
Computational and Continuum Mechanics back to top
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Computational mechanics. |
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Real-time tissue simulation. |
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Aeroelastic modeling/Fluid-structure interaction. |
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Computational fluid dynamics; Fluid-structure interaction. (Computational Fluid Dynamics Lab) |
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Nonlinear elasticity. |
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Fluid-structure interaction. |
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Fracture and fatigue. |
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Computational mechanics; Finite element methods; Fluid-structure interaction. |
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Elastic wave propagation |
Computational Design and Computer Aided Engineering back to top
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Finite element analysis. |
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Multi-disciplinary design optimization. |
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Computational fluid dynamics; Fluid-structure interaction (Computational Fluid Dynamics Lab) |
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Virtual prototyping; Global optimization, and integrated concurrent engineering design. |
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Finite element methods; Multi-disciplinary design optimization. |
Alternate Energy Technologies and Systems back to top
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Energy and sustainable development. |
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Wind turbine analysis and design; Variable fidelity aerodynamic and structural modeling; Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles; Sustainable energy systems; Smart grid. |
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Modeling; Testing; and optimization of fuel cell and electric vehicle systems; Integrated concurrent engineering design; Fuel cell technology; Smart grid. |
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Fuel cell technology; Modeling of energy systems; Computational modelling of fuel cells; Smart grid. (Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic) |
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Energy system dynamics; Fuel cell technology; Hydrogen technology. |
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Wind and tidal turbines; Hydrogen technology; Fluid-structure interactions in nuclear plants. |
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Thermodynamic analysis of energy conversion processes; Quantification of irreversible losses |
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Fuel cell diagnostics; Modelling of energy systems |
Industrial Sensing and Optics back to top
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Fluid and biomedical sensor development. |
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Adaptive control of optical systems; Micro-electro-mechanical-systems; Optical sensors. (Adaptive Optics Research Laboratory) |
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Crystal growth of semiconductors for opto-electronic; Photo-voltaic and medical imaging devices. |
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Confocal holography; Electron microscopy. |
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Metrology stations for micro/meso-scale parts. |
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Electrical and mechanical properties of piezoelectrics. |
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Fibre-optic and piezo-ceramic sensors. |
Mechatronics and Controls back to top
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Haptics; Haptic rendering and simulations of virtual environments; Virtual constraints for rehabilitation; Collaborative haptic manipulation; Internet-based haptic cooperation. |
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Wind power generation; Plug-in hybrid electrical vehicles. |
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Micro-packaging technology suitable for millimeter-scale Microsystems; Micro-power systems including wireless electro-magnetic power transducers and mechanical motion power transducers. |
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Optimal design and control of hybrid electrical vehicles; Intelligent traffic control. |
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Control of parallel kinematic 5-axis machine tool. |
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Control for mechatronics. |
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Embedded system control. |
Micro-Electromechanical Systems back to top
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Fluid and biomedical sensor development. |
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BioMEMS for capture and sorting of biological cells; Automated biological cell detection and localization; Automated cell injection and monitoring; Hand rehabilitation machine; Implantable wireless BioMEMS for muscle EMG signal monitoring. |
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A Medical device based on acoustic confocal holography. |
Ocean Engineering and Ocean Energy back to top
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Dynamics and control of underwater vehicles . |
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Tidal turbines; Off-shore wind power. |
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Green Ship Propulsion Systems. |
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Wave energy devices. |
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Dynamics and control of underwater vehicles. |
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Sediment Transport in Settling Basins and Transport of Pollutants in rivers and near shore areas. |
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Wave energy conversion devices. |
Robotics and Mechanisms back to top
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Dynamics and control of underwater vehicles; Dynamics and control of space structures. |
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Haptics; Telerobotics; Physical human-robot interaction. |
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Robotic Microassembly of 3D Microsystems; Automated micro-interfacing technology for microassembly; Micro-joining and Micro-packaging. |
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Dynamics and control of underwater vehicles; Parallel manipulators; Dynamics and control of space structures. (Robotics and Mechanism Laboratory) |
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Smart structures and embedded system control. |
Thermofluids Science and Transport Phenomena back to top
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Fluid mechanics; Nanoscale mechanics. |
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Low and medium fidelity aerodynamic modeling techniques; Experimental wind/tidal rotor testing. |
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Modeling of turbulent flows; Direct and large-eddy simulation; Transport phenomena in fuel cells. |
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Transport phenomena in crystal growth; Modeling and numerical simulation of growth processes. |
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Biomedical flows; Flow-induced noise and vibrations; Fluid flow and heat transfer analysis; Transport phenomena in fuel cells. |
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Thermal regenerator design and analysis; Low temperature heat transfer (ENSYS Lab) |
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Equilibrium and non-equilibrium thermodynamics; Kinetic theory of gases; Transport processes; Continuum mechanics. |
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Sediment Transport in Settling Basins and Transport of Pollutants in rivers and near shore areas. |