1. 25
Photo provided by NIAR
s
awarded Kansas a $5 million workforce
development grant to grow the state’s
capacity for composites and advanced
materials and translate them to aviation
and healthcare applications. While federal
officials were certainly impressed with the
vision conveyed in Kansas’ grant applica-
tion, the award was also an affirmation of
the incredible composite infrastructure
already in place in the state.
Two of the biggest pieces of that infra-
structure are Wichita State University’s
National Institute for Aviation Research
(NIAR), one of the nation’s most capable
university aviation research centers, and
Via Christi Health Systems’ Orthopedic
Research Center, a regional leader in the
development and testing of orthopedic
implants.
For years, the partnership between
NIAR and private-sector airplane com-
From planes to
panies has helped transform the aviation
industry by developing new technologies.
In particular, the use of NIAR-developed
composites by aerospace manufacturers
has resulted in lighter and stronger build-
prosthetics
ing materials, which has resulted in lighter
and stronger planes.
Using the aviation industry’s success,
the healthcare industry has also begun
to collaborate with NIAR to identify
Kansas’ aviation legacy supports potential opportunities for composites
in healthcare. Specifically, Via Christi’s
its biotechnology future
Orthopedic Research Institute and NIAR
have partnered to promote bioscience
development and translate composite
WICHITA, KAN. — Researchers look- economies —itsitsbiosciencemanufacturing
cluster, and
aviation
cluster — both
technology engineered for aviation to
develop a new generation of orthopedic
ing for the next big thing in biotechnology of which are reaping the benefits of new devices for healthcare. Experts in com-
or healthcare might want to peek inside a composite-based products and materials. posite research engineering are working
few Wichita airplane hangars. And the potential for future collaboration with tissue engineers to use advanced
Long regarded as the aviation manufac- and shared success between the industries technology for a variety of healthcare uses
turing capital of the world, Wichita is now has Kansas leaders thinking the best is yet — including future use for hip, knee and
playing a huge role in Kansas’ biotechnol- to come. other replacements.
ogy and healthcare plans, thanks to the “Most states would consider themselves State leaders last year took the collabo-
city’s expertise in composite materials. lucky to have one industry cluster,” said ration between NIAR and Via Christi to a
While that expertise was originally forged Tom Thornton, President of the Kansas new level with the recruitment of Dr. Paul
by airplane makers in search of stronger Bioscience Authority. “But Kansas has Wooley to head the Orthopedic Research
lightweight building materials, Wichita’s two. And the scary thing is, they are devel- Center’s research efforts. A nationally
strength in composites has become an oping an extraordinary synergy. Kansas’ renowned orthopedic immuno-geneticist
equally good fit for the state’s burgeoning legacy in aviation is helping us build a with expertise in immunology and microbi-
bioscience industry. Nowadays, Kansas legacy in the biosciences.” ology, Wooley will establish an orthopedic
composite technology is as likely to be The fact that composites developed laboratory that specializes in composite
used in an airplane as it is in an artery or for airplanes are migrating to bioscience materials and their compatibility within the
surgically repaired knee. and healthcare applications is not exactly human body. This means he is working to
The result is a blurring of the lines surprising. The U.S. Department of Labor identify useful human health applications
between Kansas’ two renowned cluster certainly recognized it in 2007, when it for composites originally developed by the

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continued from page 25
revision surgeries,” said Thornton, who
was instrumental in recruiting Wooley
to Kansas through the state’s Eminent
Scholars Program. “This work is a natural
fit for Kansas, with its advanced research
capabilities and industry strength in
aerospace, which requires lightweight but
extremely strong materials. Again, it’s re-
markable just how related the aircraft and
healthcare industries have become, with
composites as the common thread.”
In addition to laying the foundation for
new composite-based products in aviation
and healthcare, the collaboration between
NIAR and Via Christi is being called a
blueprint for the Kansas Center for Bioma-
terials Innovation and Design, a proposed
world-class center for biomaterials re-
s Photo provided by NIAR search, education and commercialization
of the research into medical devices. If the
airline industry, with part of his research the standard metal parts, the need for this project comes to fruition, there would be
focused on composite joint implants that type of research is evident. no overstating Kansas’ role in the compos-
will offer alternatives to the metal joints “There are countless opportuni- ites world.
used today in knee and hip replacements. ties for composite material innovation “We’ve got a shot at national leadership
For anyone who’s ever had a joint as researchers seek joint replacements here,” Thornton said. “That’s what we’re
replacement and then had problems with that will last longer and not require shooting for.”Z
KANSAS BIOSCIENCE I Spring 2009