Our research

The bioengineering laboratory possesses the facility for advanced research endeavours with broad range of applications as follows:

• Polymer synthesis for different biomedical applications
• Hydrogel and scaffold fabrication for tissue engineering of soft and hard tissues
  - Control pore size and pore interconnectivity via different gas foaming techniques
  - Enhance cell infiltration in 3D structure by creating microchannels and addition of active compounds that promote cell adhesion and can be used as nutrient for cell growth
• Production of nano and micro-particles with narrow particle size distribution for pharmaceutical applications
• Synthesis of various smart drug delivery systems
• Advance technologies (e.g. fermentation, environmentally benign methods) for the synthesis and extraction of high value compounds such as vitamin, anti-cancer and anti-viral compounds
• High throughput screening for identifying anti-cancer, anti-viral and anti-microbial compounds
• Protein and glycoprotein engineering

Research facilities

• Bench scale facility for the synthesis of bioactive chemicals, polymers, hybrid materials, and functionalisation of molecules
• High pressure facility to use subcritical water or CO2 for extraction, synthesis, sterilisation, impregnation, foam formation, etc.
• Porous hydrogel fabrication using different methods such as gas foaming, freeze drying, UV or visible light
• Bench top fermentor for the synthesis of high value compounds such as proteins and vitamins.
• Facility for cell culturing and conducting biological assays
• High-performance liquid chromatography-Mass spectrometery
• Gel permeation chromatography
• Mechanical testing with features for conducting measurement in a biological fluid and controlled temperature
• Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with microscope for 2D imaging
• Florescent microscopy
• Microplate reader
• Anderson Cascade Impactor

Analytical techniques

• Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) to obtain information for chromatographic behaviour, UV spectrum and molecular mass simultaneously for each compound, and the identify/structure of particular compound.
• Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) for fast and easy generation of FTIR spectra of solid and liquid samples or solutions.