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Concordia Institute of Aerospace Design and Innovation

Concordia Institute of Aerospace Design and Innovation

Undergrad Research Internship (USRA/CUSRA) – Summer 2022

Safety and Reliability Analysis of a Heart Valve Design using Methods from Aerospace Engineering

The project proposal is for an undergrad student with an excellent academic record interested in completing a research internship in summer 2022.

Internal application deadline: February 15, 2022.

Background

Artificial heart valves save and extend the lives of patients all around the world. Heart valve functioning is highly complex, with much variability between patients. The designs keep evolving to address the problems observed with valves implanted in patients. A significant part of the knowledge on the risk and failures of a new valve comes from field experience. Remarkably, artificial heart valve designs do not undergo rigorous design for safety and reliability processes as in aerospace engineering. This situation leads to a significant risk for the health of patients with artificial heart valves and financial risks to medical device companies.

Project Objectives

Adapt and apply design for reliability methodologies from aerospace engineerings, such as [1]–[3], to an artificial heart valve development process. The first step will clarify how the design can be driven by safety and reliability considerations. A safety analysis will capture and clarify the hazards and failure modes and analyze the effects and causes. There will be an emphasis on anticipating hazards for a new design and identifying everything that can go wrong with the valve, its implantation, its environment, and its operating conditions before its use in patients. The work could involve investigating failure modes with a DOE approach. The work will also aim to highlight the missing knowledge for comprehensive design analysis. The results will be synthesized in a report concluding with clear research directions for future work.

USRA / CUSRA

  • Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) is for Canadian or permanent resident students. Concordia Undergraduate Student Research Awards (CUSRA) is the equivalent to USRA for international students.
  • Awards to stimulate interest in research, participatory research, or research-creation work that will […] enhance preparation for graduate studies or research-related careers.
  • Summer research internship: $7,500
  • For more info: https://www.concordia.ca/research/students-and-postdocs/undergraduate-opportunities/cusra.html

Qualifications & Skills

  • Background knowledge in safety and reliability for aerospace engineering and fluid dynamics.
  • Interest in biomedical engineering and medical devices.
  • Good writing skills.
  • Professionalism.

How to apply

Qualified and highly motivated candidates are invited to send their application per email to jonathan.liscouet@concordia.ca and lyes.kadem@concordia.ca with subject “Safety and Reliability Analysis of a Heart Valve Design using Methods from Aerospace Engineering” and the following elements:

  • email explaining motivation and your relevant experience
  • complete and up-to-date CV
  • information on grades obtained (transcript or GPA or any remarks)
  • a writing sample (extract of publication or report written by the candidate)

References

[1]      SAE International, “Guidelines for Development of Civil Aircraft and Systems,” Aerospace Recommended Practice ARP4754A, Dec. 2010. doi: 10.4271/ARP4754A.

[2]      SAE International, “Guidelines and Methods for Conducting the Safety Assessment on Civil Airborne Systems and Equipment,” Aerospace Recommended Practice ARP4761, Dec. 1996. doi: 10.4271/ARP4761.

[3]      N. Leveson and J. P. Thomas, STPA Handbook, MIT. 2018. Accessed: July 13, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://psas.scripts.mit.edu/home/get_file.php?name=STPA_handbook.pdf

 
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