Dartmouth Engineer

Photograph courtesty of Douglas Van Citters.

Students tried their hand at surgery in a mock operating room in a Thayer classroom for the final sessions of ENGS 165: Biomaterials. “The students are taken through the process of repairing a shattered proximal humerus and a broken radius using Locking Compression Plates. The surgery is led by an engineer from industry, and the instruments, plates, and hardware are the same sets that are used by surgeons in the operating room,” says Professor Douglas Van Citters ’99 Th’03, ’06 (back row, right). “Students learn about design principles, bone healing principles, and human factors — how do you put such a small screw in or drill a straight hole?” The approach makes an impression. “Although we all managed to implant the plates on the bones properly, we would make terrible surgeons,” says Monica Martin de Bustamante ’08 Th’09 (second row, second from right). “If there had been any soft tissue around, we would have destroyed it!”