Dr. Habiba Bougherara
Areas of Academic Interest
Biomaterials and biomechanics
Advanced composite materials
Modelling and mechanical characterization
Spotlight
Want to see the future of medicine? Look no further than Habiba Bougherara鈥檚 biomedical materials lab.
Bougherara and her team are developing advanced composite materials that mimic bone. The composites could replace the metal currently used in joint implants or the rods and plates used to repair fractures, and could dramatically alter a patient鈥檚 knee or hip replacement experience. 鈥淲e hope to improve quality of life for patients by extending the lifespan of an implant from 10 to 15 years to 25,鈥� she says, 鈥渆ffectively eliminating the need for implants to be replaced in a patient鈥檚 lifetime.鈥�
Bougherara鈥檚 work doesn鈥檛 stop there. Her composites could be adapted for use in the body of a car or the wings of a plane. And she鈥檚 already working on the next big step in orthopedic surgery: combining advanced composites with 3D printing technology. 鈥淥ur goal is to enable the surgeon to scan the patient鈥檚 femur and 3D print a custom implant there and then.鈥�
鈥淚mproving quality of life for patients by developing new biomedical composite materials is incredibly rewarding.鈥�
- Early Researchers Awards (ERA-MRI)
- Discovery Accelerator Supplements (NSERC-DAS)
- Dean鈥檚 Scholarly, Research and Creative Activity Awards (3)
- Ryerson鈥檚 Collaborative Research Award
- Al-Hajaj, Z., Sy, B.L., Bougherara, H., and Zdero, R. 鈥淚mpact Properties of a New Hybrid Composite Material Made From Woven Carbon Fibres Plus Flax Fibres in an Epoxy Matrix.鈥� Composite Structures, vol. 208, 2019, pp. 346-356.
- Mahboob, Z., and Bougherara, H. 鈥淔atigue of Flax-epoxy and Other Plant Fibre Composites: Critical Review and Analysis.鈥� Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, vol. 109, 2018, pp. 440-462.
- Mahboob, Z., Chemisky, Y., Meraghni, F., and Bougherara, H. 鈥淢esoscale Modelling of Tensile Response and Damage Evolution in Natural Fibre Reinforced Laminates.鈥� Composites Part B: Engineering, vol. 119, no. 15, 2017, 168-183.
- Tavakkoli Avval, P., Samiezadeh, S., and Bougherara, H. (2016). 鈥淟ong-term Response of Femoral Density to Hip Implant and Bone Fracture Plate: Computational Study Using a Mechano-biochemical Model.鈥� Medical Engineering & Physics, vol. 38, no. 2, 2016, pp. 171-180.
- Eftekhari, S., and Bougherara, H. (2016). Artificial bone nanocomposite and method of manufacture. US Patent 9,327,053.
- Laboratory of Biomaterials and Biomechanics (LBB)
- Member of Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO)
- Member of Bone and Joint Decade
- Member of the Scientific Advisory of CREPEC
- Member of the Canadian Society for Biomechanics
- Member of the Canadian Association for Composite Structures and Materials
- Member of the Association for Composite Materials (AMC)