Visiting studentship for PhD studies in Mechanical Engineering with Orthopaedics

We are delighted to welcome Petra Bonacic Bartolin for a 3 month visit combining engineering with orthopaedic research, under the joint supervision of Professors Michael Sutcliffe and Matthew Allen.

Petra graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb, Croatia in 2011 (master’s degree with highest honor) and then Petra worked as a mechanical designer in industry and EU project manager for two years.

In 2014 she became project manager and teaching assistant at University of Applied Sciences, Zagreb. She was involved with preparation of the teaching materials and giving lectures in Mechanics, Strength of Materials and Theory of Machines and in preparation of the EU project proposal. She was also the leader in developing a new study program, Prosthetics and Orthotics under the EU project related to the Croatian Qualifications Framework.

In 2015, Petra successfully started her PhD at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture under the University of Zagreb. PhD thesis is related to numerical and experimental testing of anterior cruciate ligament, as well as modeling new biomechanical implant support for healing of the ACL. Since 2017, Petra has been a Research and teaching assistant at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture and in 2018, she founded the Orthopedic Engineering Society together with her supervisor Dr.sc. Damir Hudetz, orthopedic surgeon, the aim is to promote orthopedic science and the application of engineering in the orthopedic field of research.

In 2019, Petra won a short – term fellowship in the University of Cambridge, which will involve experimental testing on the canine knee model to determine and compare the biomechanical parameters of biologically healthy knee joints and those who have an implant. The research is also carried out in order to improve the testing protocol, based on the processed data, and to improve the existing prosthesis and methods for treating damaged knee joints in dogs.

Recently she got National Award for best paper Biomechanical flaws of cutting-edge approaches in ACL repair surgery tested on a sheep model,18th ESSKA Congress, 9-12 May 2018 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK.