Dipl.-Ing. Philippa Ruth Christine Böhnke from the Institute of Textile Machinery and High Performance Material Technology (ITM) as part of TU Dresden received the Creativity Award by the VDMA Textile Machinery Association 2020, endowed with 3.000 EUR, for her excellent thesis titled “Development of Additively Manufactured Composite Implants Made From Silica Gel Fibers and Medical Adhesives for Bone Regeneration”

Beginning of December, the annual award ceremony for Promotion and Creativity Awards by the Walter Reiners-Foundation of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association was held to reward students and young scientists from German universities for outstanding achievements during their studies or doctorate period. For the first time, these nationwide Promotion and Creativity Prizes were awarded online by Peter D. Dornier, Chairman of the Walter Reiners-Foundation.

• In her thesis, Philippa Böhnke introduced an innovative composite material based on a bioactive material composition suitable for the regeneration and repair of bone defects; it consists of a fiber reinforcement structure made from biocompatible silica gel fibers and a matrix material based on medical adhesives containing calcium, natrium, and phosphorous. Morphological and mechanical characterizations revealed that the developed material offers a porous structure as well as considerably enhanced bending stiffness and elongation at break compared to commercially available bone substitutes. These material properties are very similar to those of real bone structures. Hence, due to her excellent, creative scientific work, Philippa Böhnke made an essential contribution in terms of mechanical engineering to the fields of fiber research, additive manufacturing, fiber composites, and medical engineering.