Professor Cecilia Persson, speaks at the Welcome Meeting

Cecilia leads the research group BioMaterial Systems, of 15-20 people, and the AM4Life Competence Centre, gathering approximately 100 people from 25 different partners from academia and industry, working together to solve pressing research questions in the field of Additive Manufacturing (AM, or 3D-printing) for the Life Sciences.

Tell us a bit more about what you do at Uppsala University.
-I am also chair of the AM@Å initiative, providing an open infrastructure platform for AM at Uppsala University. We have applied to become a WISE Research Technology Platform, which would give us the possibility to further strengthen our research in the sustainability aspects of AM.

What is your talk about at Welcome Meeting?
-It is about AM of magnesium alloys, or as alternative title “How a more sustainable material could give you both cheaper flights and your leg back”. Applications are however somewhat far away, we are working on solving the most fundamental aspects of printing magnesium-based alloys, as well as using this manufacturing method to tailor the microstructure and enable the development of new alloys.

Could you give a word of encouragement to the new WISE PhD students and postdocs?
-This is the start of a fantastic opportunity, make the most of it! Embrace failures, that is when you learn the quickest. Everyone fails until they succeed and not giving up is what will ensure your success. It is important to find your inner motivation. In the WISE projects, this to me appears relatively easy, as we are all working on small bits and pieces to try to make the world a better place.