Portrait of Sytze Buwalda
Assistant Research Professor in BIO research team
Sytze Buwalda brings new skills to the BIO team - Bio-sourced Polymers and Composites. He is interested in developping a new line of research. Indeed, the idea is to combine both the expertise of the BIO team on bio-sourced materials and its own expertise on medical applications.
Here he tells us more about his career and his research project at CEMEF.
AN EUROPEAN CAREER
Sytze Buwalda is from the Netherlands. After his PhD in Biomedical Materials Science at Twente University, he comes to France to start a postdoc at the University of Toulouse. There he applies and obtains a prestigious Marie Curie research grant. It takes him to Montpellier, in the department of artificial polymers of’Institut des Biomolécules Max Mousseron. And he develops his own research project on the controlled release of drugs from cross-linked nanoparticles.
HIS PROJECT AT CEMEF
If he loves the South of France, the reason he moved here is purely scientific. He tells us:
I'm first and foremost a researcher. I looked for a project that really motivated me. So combining life on the French Riviera and working at CEMEF is a bit like a dream coming true!
For ten years I studied synthetic polymers for biomedical applications. And their behavior is different from that of bio-sourced polymers. So it's true that the field of study is similar but the material is not the same. In fact, for me it's a whole new adventure and a challenge too. The project is super motivating. And if I continue the list, I have to talk about the scientific approach as well. At CEMEF, the studies are focused on the shaping of the material, the chemical aspect of the material is much less present. I am discovering another universe.
A NEW UNIVERSE
In fact, I bring a new skill to the BIO team. So far, the work has mainly been on aerogels for thermal insulation. And I'm going to work on biopolymers for medical applications. Obviously, I looked for more information about the lab. and MINES ParisTech before applying. I must say that I liked the fact that the scientific approach is industry oriented. There is strong collaboration with industry. Sincerely, it's the type of research that suits me.
Add to that the fact that Tatiana Budtova, the head of the BIO team, has confirmed to me many times that I would be free to set up my own research project. Honestly, it's very motivating.
CEMEF IN THREE WORDS
1. Interdisciplinarity
2. Laboratory on human scale
3. Collaboration with industry
HIS RESEARCH TOPICS
1. Aerogels
2. Hydrogel based composites
3. 3D printing
I'm first and foremost a researcher. I looked for a project that really motivated me. So combining life on the French Riviera and working at CEMEF is a bit like a dream coming true!
