Examine how and why biomaterials fail—and how better design can prevent it. In this course, you will move beyond foundational knowledge to develop advanced skills in analysing, critiquing, and designing biomaterials, including polymers, metals, ceramics, and composites, under real-world biological, mechanical, temporal, and regulatory constraints.
You will investigate critical structure–property–function limitations that govern biomaterial performance, exploring immune–mechanical interactions, surface-mediated biological control, transport-limited behaviour, time-dependent degradation, and the viscoelastic response of biological tissues and biomedical materials. You will learn to think as a systems engineer—integrating materials, biology, mechanics, and regulation—to analyse failure mechanisms and design more robust biomaterial solutions. Before the semester break, you are given the opportunity to reflect on your progress against the course learning outcomes, consolidate key concepts from the first half of the course, and identify areas for improvement. You will receive targeted feedback from the course coordinator, learn how your feedback has been addressed, and gain a clear overview of the upcoming lecture themes to support focused and informed learning.
Through a research-integrated learning experience focused on orthopaedic implants, you will apply advanced theory to complex, real biomedical engineering problems. You will develop failure-centred reasoning, critical analysis, and evidence-based design judgement, while working within clinical, ethical, and regulatory frameworks. This course prepares you for professional engineering practice and research pathways in biomaterials and biomedical engineering.
Please note that if you take this course for a bachelor honours program, your overall mark in this course will be one of the course marks that will be used to calculate the weighted average mark (WAM) that will determine your award level.
This applies to students who commence enrolment in a bachelor honours program from 1 January 2016 onwards. See the WAM information web page for more information.(http://www1.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=eyj5c0mo77631)