Dissertation topics suggested by the teacher.
For the academic year 2024-25, the following thesis projects are available for a master’s degree in mechanical engineering with a focus on biomechanics:
1) Prediction of bone fracture risk – At the Medical Technology Laboratory IRCCS Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute (co-tutor: Dr Antonino La Mattina)
2) Biomechanics of Motor Function – requires attendance of the course of Biomechanics of Motor Function (co-tutor: Dr Giorgio Davico)
In addition, master's thesis projects are available at national and foreign companies and research centres; these theses have a local co-tutor, Prof Viceconti as the primary supervisor. Some opportunities are listed below:
1) Thesis at the biomechanics group of the biomedical engineering division of the University of Lund (Sweden) (co-tutor: Dr Lorenzo Grassi). Here are some possible topics.
2) Thesis and internship in industry at Medacta International SA, Rancate (Switzerland). 2) (co-tutor: Ing. Massimiliano Bernardoni). Evluation of critical configuration in a new design of custom-made shoulder replacement.
3) Thesis and internships at the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Materials of the University of Greenwich (UK) (co-tutor: Prof. Gianluca Tozzi). Some possible themes:
- AI-based digital volume correlation for hard/soft tissue
- Data-driven hard/soft tissue modelling with vision transformers and diffusion-based architectures
- Collaborative diffusion multi-modal image analysis for bone
- Biomaterial formulation with diffusion-language models
- Composing bone biomimetic materials with AI sonification
4) Thesis and internships at the Centre for Biomedical Technologies of the Queensland University of Technology (Australia), (co-tutor: Prof. Saulo Martelli). Given the high travel costs, it is recommended to explore scholarships. QUT itself finances some for foreign students.
5) Thesis and internships Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona (Spain) (co-tutor: Dr. Simone Tassani. Here is a list of the available thesis projects.
6) Thesis and internships at Centro Protesi Vigorso di Budrio dell'INAIL (co-tutor: Dr. Emanuele Gruppioni): thesis on the biomechanics of osteointegrated amputation prostheses.
7) Internships and theses at Zimmer Biomet, Winterthur (CH) (co-tutor: Dr. Philippe Favre). Attention: the company currently does not have funds to help with food and accommodation expenses.
8) Internships and theses at the Institute of Biorobotics [] of the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies (Pisa), (co-tutor: Prof Silvestro Micera). Thesis projects in the field of biorobotics.
9) Internships and theses at the School of Engineering and Materials Science of Queen Mary, University of London (UK) (co-tutor: Dr Marco Pensalfini). Thesis projects on soft tissue biomechanics.
10) Internships and theses at the research center in mechanobiology of the University of Brescia, (co-tutor: Prof Alberto Salvatori). Thesis projects on computational mechanobiology (cellular motility, blood clotting, embryogenesis, bacterial biofilms).
11) Internships and theses at the Institute of Biomechanics at the Gratz University of Technology (Austria). (co-tutors: Prof Gerhard A. Holzapfel and Dr Michele Terzano). Thesis projects on the biomechanics of soft tissues.
12) Internships and theses at the Insigneo Institute for In Silico Medicine, University of Sheffield (UK) (co-tutor: Dr. Pinaki Bhattacharya). Thesis projects on the computational biomechanics of hard tissues.
13) Internships and theses at the M3M lab, University of Genova (co-tutor: Prof Flavia Libonati). Thesis projects on the computational biomechanics of bone nanomechanics and the effect of osteoporosis and ageing.
14) Internships and theses on “modelling of bone metabolism during the space flight” at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) (co-tutor: Prof. Sigrid Leyendecker and Dr. Anna-Maria Liphardt) or at the Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane, AU) (Co-tutor: Prof. Saulo Martelli).
