POSE: Phase I: Melt Electrowriting (MEW) Ecosystem

This Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) project increases access to a microfiber scaffold technology, fostering innovation through the creation of a comprehensive and robust, open-source hardware ecosystem. This project centers around a cutting-edge 3D printing technology known as melt electrowriting (MEW), a method for weaving intricate microfiber structures into porous materials. The project's open-source approach enables communities to perform rapid experimentation and adaptation of hardware. The low-cost and open-source system provides a global entry for the United States and advances the country’s technological and scientific leadership. As MEW is used in critical areas such as regenerative medicine, robotics, cancer research, and materials science, the project creates an opportunity to empower the domestic maker community. This solution improves future healthcare treatments for the aging, sick, and/or injured populations while training bioengineers in future manufacturing practices. This POSE project scopes the feasibility of making an advanced bioengineering printer more affordable. In this project, efforts focus on identifying user groups poised to leverage the modifiable nature of the open-source printer to build, train and then quickly implement MEW technologies into applications that require high-performance materials. This solution is expected to identify and leverage collaborations so that multidisciplinary groups of researchers can nimbly advance manufacturing projects. Planned activities include community building, developing governance and organizational structures, and ensuring quality, security, and privacy. Additionally, the open-source platform serves as an essential educational and training resource in advanced manufacturing and mechatronics, preparing bioengineering students for careers in automated biomanufacturing and artificial intelligence-guided fabrication. The overall goal of this project is to establish and rapidly expand domestic capabilities in MEW, fostering technological innovation and securing intellectual leadership in advanced biofabrication. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.