{"id":878114,"date":"2026-09-03T02:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T02:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/878114\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T02:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T02:54:13","slug":"from-building-bridges-to-bulletproof-bones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/878114\/","title":{"rendered":"From building bridges to bulletproof bones"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Mingxin Ye<\/a>\u2019s father suffered from bone issues, his long recovery sparked an idea in the civil engineer.<\/p>\n

\u201c[My father] could not work for 3 months, so this made me think about how can I use engineering to help improve the way people recover from injuries and how can we make them heal faster,\u201d says Mingxin.<\/p>\n

This idea led Mingxin to switch from civil to biomedical engineering for his PhD at the University of Western Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cCivil engineering focuses on stuff on a much bigger scale, so bridges and buildings. When we\u2019re looking at material science, we\u2019re making stuff on a smaller scale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe skill is different, but \u2026 the principles behind them is the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nCaption: Mingxin Ye switched from civil to biomedical engineering to help fix broken bones.
Credit: Supplied Mingxin Ye<\/p>\n

STRENGTHENING BONES<\/p>\n

Mingxin\u2019s research is investigating how to strengthen implants<\/a> that are attached to broken bones to help them heal.<\/p>\n

This could result in longer-lasting implants, potentially minimising bone weakening or reduced bone density.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarbon fibre can solve some problems associated with metal implants, but there\u2019s still a durability issue with a carbon fibre implant,\u201d says Mingxin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what my research is trying to address. We\u2019re trying to make [the implant] stronger so it will last much longer in a human body when a bone is healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

HARDER, BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER<\/p>\n

As part of his laboratory trials, Mingxin is testing the use of Kevlar<\/a> for the implants, a material renowned for its strength.<\/p>\n

\u201cKevlar fibres are traditionally used in bulletproof vests,\u201d says Mingxin.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nCaption: Kevlar is a strong material used in bulletproof vests.
Credit: Frederick Shaw\/Unsplash<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very, very impact resistant, so it can absorb energy, so we\u2019re incorporating that inside carbon fibre composites.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have a composite with these bulletproof fibres, it\u2019s going to make the structure a lot stronger and result in a 20% increase in strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

Broken bones are the most common type of injury<\/a> presented to emergency departments in Australia, with more than 407,000 fractures reported in 2024\/25 alone.<\/p>\n

Mingxin says his research could have the potential to both speed up the healing process and reduce the need for additional surgeries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really interested in designing materials that can help people heal better and avoid complications and improve people\u2019s health outcomes and quality of life,\u201d says Mingxin.<\/p>\n

SUPPORTING LIFE-SAVING RESEARCH<\/p>\n

Mingxin\u2019s research is supported by the Forrest Research Foundation<\/a>, which helps more than 60 researchers from around the world with their PhD and post-doctorate studies.<\/p>\n

He says the foundation has given him \u201ctremendous academic freedom to pursue this breakthrough\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a reason why I\u2019m able to conduct this research that no one has done before.\u201d<\/p>\n

His advice for anyone considering making a switch in their degree is to make the leap.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave a leap of faith and have belief in yourself that you can do it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Mingxin Ye\u2019s father suffered from bone issues, his long recovery sparked an idea in the civil engineer.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":878115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[64,63,447578,17480,34727,2379,447569,260119,20217,447570,447567,447581,447575,38627,447583,447582,439733,447577,447568,447584,39092,447585,18495,318102,447579,49064,447573,447572,12763,447576,447571,128,49283,447574,183185,447580],"class_list":["post-878114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-medical-research","tag-biomaterials","tag-biomedical-engineering","tag-bone-density","tag-bone-fractures","tag-bone-healing","tag-bone-health","tag-bone-implants","tag-broken-bones","tag-bulletproof-vest-material","tag-carbon-fibre-implants","tag-civil-engineering","tag-composite-materials","tag-engineering-research","tag-forrest-research-foundation","tag-forrest-research-foundation-research","tag-fracture-recovery","tag-fracture-treatment","tag-healthcare-innovation","tag-implant-durability","tag-injury-recovery","tag-kevlar","tag-kevlar-fibres","tag-material-science","tag-medical-engineering","tag-medical-implants","tag-medical-technology","tag-mingxin-ye","tag-orthopaedic-implants","tag-science","tag-university-of-western-australia","tag-uwa-research","tag-wa-science","tag-western-australian-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/878115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}