Biography
Dr Reece Oosterbeek is a Departmental Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, and a member of the Solid Mechanics and Materials Engineering Group. His research focuses on developing new materials for medical implants, utilising approaches such as novel mechanical metamaterials and bioresorbable composites. Reece obtained BE(Hons) and ME degrees in Chemical and Materials Engineering from the University of Auckland, followed by a PhD in Materials Science and Metallurgy (2020) from the University of Cambridge.
In Cambridge Reece was a member of Trinity College and his doctoral work, funded by a Woolf Fisher Scholarship, focused on bioresorbable polymer-glass composites for medical implants. Following this Reece moved to Imperial College London for post-doctoral research, where he began working on additively manufactured metal lattice materials for orthopaedic implants in the Biomechanics Group. In 2022 he was appointed to his current post in the Department of Engineering Science, where he is developing new mechanical metamaterials and bioresorbable materials for advanced medical implants.
Research Interests
Reece's research aims to develop new materials for load-bearing medical implant devices. He aims to design new mechanical metamaterials with unprecedented mechanical properties, targeted at specific medical applications, by utilising state-of-the-art additive manufacturing techniques. By combining this with bioresorbable materials with controllable degradation behaviour, he hopes to achieve close control of the mechanical properties of medical implant materials, and their evolution over their lifetime.
Relevant techniques: Additive manufacturing (esp. LPBF), micro-CT, static mechanical and fatigue testing, surface treatment, SEM, XRD, polymer/glass/ceramic/composite processing, DSC/TGA, degradation testing
Research Groups
Recent publications
Controlling the mechanical behaviour of stochastic lattice structures: The key role of nodal connectivity
Kechagias S, Oosterbeek RN, Munford MJ, Ghouse S & Jeffers JRT (2022), Additive Manufacturing, 54, 102730-102730
BibTeX
@article{controllingthem-2022/6,
title={Controlling the mechanical behaviour of stochastic lattice structures: The key role of nodal connectivity},
author={Kechagias S, Oosterbeek RN, Munford MJ, Ghouse S & Jeffers JRT},
journal={Additive Manufacturing},
volume={54},
number={102730},
pages={102730-102730},
publisher={Elsevier BV},
year = "2022"
}
StrutSurf: A tool for analysis of strut morphology and surface roughness in additively manufactured lattices
Oosterbeek RN & Jeffers JRT (2022), SoftwareX, 18, 101043-101043
BibTeX
@article{strutsurfatoolf-2022/6,
title={StrutSurf: A tool for analysis of strut morphology and surface roughness in additively manufactured lattices},
author={Oosterbeek RN & Jeffers JRT},
journal={SoftwareX},
volume={18},
number={101043},
pages={101043-101043},
publisher={Elsevier BV},
year = "2022"
}
The evolution of the structure and mechanical properties of fully bioresorbable polymer-glass composites during degradation
Oosterbeek RN, Zhang XC, Best SM & Cameron RE (2022), Composites Science and Technology, 218, 109194-109194
BibTeX
@article{theevolutionoft-2022/2,
title={The evolution of the structure and mechanical properties of fully bioresorbable polymer-glass composites during degradation},
author={Oosterbeek RN, Zhang XC, Best SM & Cameron RE},
journal={Composites Science and Technology},
volume={218},
number={109194},
pages={109194-109194},
publisher={Elsevier BV},
year = "2022"
}
A technique for improving dispersion within polymer-glass composites using polymer precipitation
Oosterbeek RN, Zhang XC, Best SM & Cameron RE (2021)
BibTeX
@misc{atechniqueforim-2021/12,
title={A technique for improving dispersion within polymer-glass composites
using polymer precipitation},
author={Oosterbeek RN, Zhang XC, Best SM & Cameron RE},
year = "2021"
}
The evolution of the structure and mechanical properties of fully bioresorbable polymer-glass composites during degradation
Oosterbeek RN, Zhang XC, Best SM & Cameron RE (2021)
BibTeX
@misc{theevolutionoft-2021/12,
title={The evolution of the structure and mechanical properties of fully
bioresorbable polymer-glass composites during degradation},
author={Oosterbeek RN, Zhang XC, Best SM & Cameron RE},
year = "2021"
}
Vacuum heat treatments of titanium porous structures
Ghouse S, Oosterbeek RN, Mehmood AT, Vecchiato F, Dye D et al. (2021), Additive Manufacturing, 47, 102262-102262
BibTeX
@article{vacuumheattreat-2021/11,
title={Vacuum heat treatments of titanium porous structures},
author={Ghouse S, Oosterbeek RN, Mehmood AT, Vecchiato F, Dye D et al.},
journal={Additive Manufacturing},
volume={47},
number={102262},
pages={102262-102262},
publisher={Elsevier BV},
year = "2021"
}
A technique for improving dispersion within polymer-glass composites using polymer precipitation.
Oosterbeek RN, Zhang XC, Best SM & Cameron RE (2021), J Mech Behav Biomed Mater, 123, 104767
Non-linear dissolution mechanisms of sodium calcium phosphate glasses as a function of pH in various aqueous media
Oosterbeek RN, Margaronis KI, Zhang XC, Best SM & Cameron RE (2021), Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 41(1), 901-911
BibTeX
@article{nonlineardissol-2021/1,
title={Non-linear dissolution mechanisms of sodium calcium phosphate glasses as a function of pH in various aqueous media},
author={Oosterbeek RN, Margaronis KI, Zhang XC, Best SM & Cameron RE},
journal={Journal of the European Ceramic Society},
volume={41},
pages={901-911},
publisher={Elsevier BV},
year = "2021"
}
Tuning structural relaxations, mechanical properties, and degradation timescale of PLLA during hydrolytic degradation by blending with PLCL-PEG
Oosterbeek RN, Kwon K-A, Duffy P, McMahon S, Zhang XC et al. (2020)
BibTeX
@misc{tuningstructura-2020/9,
title={Tuning structural relaxations, mechanical properties, and degradation
timescale of PLLA during hydrolytic degradation by blending with PLCL-PEG},
author={Oosterbeek RN, Kwon K-A, Duffy P, McMahon S, Zhang XC et al.},
year = "2020"
}
Non-linear dissolution mechanisms of sodium calcium phosphate glasses as a function of pH in various aqueous media
Oosterbeek RN, Margaronis KI, Zhang XC, Best SM & Cameron RE (2020)
BibTeX
@misc{nonlineardissol-2020/9,
title={Non-linear dissolution mechanisms of sodium calcium phosphate glasses as
a function of pH in various aqueous media},
author={Oosterbeek RN, Margaronis KI, Zhang XC, Best SM & Cameron RE},
year = "2020"
}
DPhil Opportunities
If you are interested in research in mechanical metamaterials, bioresorbable materials, and/or medical implant materials, please contact me about research opportunities and consider applying to the DPhil program in our department.