3D printing

The New Yorker (Nov. 24) -- In this feature about the development of biomedical 3D printing, Jennifer Lewis, an engineering alumnus and former MatSE faculty member, discusses her work with current faculty members Scott White and Nancy Sottos. Their work on self-healing materials resulted in the production of a capillary network inspired by biological models. “My big role in the project was to find ways to use 3-D printing to embed this microvascular network," Lewis said. "Once we did that, it was pretty easy for me to see the broader implications.” Lewis and her team have created an environment that the cells consider home—it is far more natural to them than a petri dish or the inorganic scaffolds that had previously played host to cultured tissues.