From Switzerland to Chermside - A student’s quest to better understand biomedical engineering

The Critical Care Research Group regularly welcomes international students for industry placements or internship opportunities. Most recently we hosted Viacheslav (Slava) Bolotnikov, a Switzerland-based engineering student who is studying at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne.

“I was introduced to the work of CCRG by Dr Alexis Tabah, senior lecturer at The University of Queensland’s Faculty of Medicine, who I had met in France before he moved to Australia to join The Prince Charles Hospital’s Northside Clinical Unit,” explains Slava.

“I was immediately interested in CCRG’s work due to their impressive research output and their success in translating preclinical studies to clinical trials, especially with The Living Heart Project.”

During his internship, Slava worked closely with Post-Doc Fellow Clayton Semenzin in the Group’s Innovative Cardiovascular Engineering and Technology Lab (ICETLab), where he helped develop a controller for a blood compatible mock loop.

“Before arriving in Brisbane, I didn’t realise that ICETLab housed one of the world’s most advanced circulatory mock loops. It was very impressive to see this model in action, and work hands on with CCRG’s engineers to create and test different scenarios.

“I was fortunate to be involved in studies using ICETLab’s computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models and see how the translation of components from the Lab into large preclinical models is helping further CCRG’s pulsatile ECMO studies. These studies are aimed at improving treatment outcomes for patients with ARDS, for example.

“CCRG is uniquely placed to work holistically on treatment solutions from start to finish, so I was able to meet and work with people from a wide range of disciplines including engineers, clinicians, statisticians, and scientists and see first-hand how the Group moves innovations from idea to implementation. From outlining methodology, knowing how to set out a project, and how to work together to overcome obstacles and setbacks, it was a very rewarding experience,” explains Slava.

As part of his internship, Slava was exposed to the administrative side of running one of the world’s leading preclinical research facilities saying “I discovered that there's a lot of ‘invisible work’ done behind the scenes, from finance to contracts, from managing stakeholder relationships to marketing and communicating findings. Sometimes we can be misled into thinking that research moves very slowly but, in reality, this is what it take to make it possible – patience, teamwork and resilience.”

“It was eye-opening to learn that despite the many advances in healthcare technologies, there is still so much that can be done, and that needs to be done, in the biomedical field. I realised this thanks to the diversity of people I met at CCRG – doctors, engineers, biologists, all working together to develop new ideas.”

“Thanks to my time at CCRG, I now have a better idea of which area in biomedical engineering I would like to pursue. I was challenged on the preconceived notions I had about medical research and now have a clearer idea of what it takes to have a career in this field. I gained the confidence to develop methodologies and had the team’s support while I worked on perfecting my English.”

“I’m now confident that I want to continue with a master's degree in biomedical engineering and carry out other projects that will enable me to further our understanding of the mechanics of the cardiovascular system. If you want to work in a dynamic and multidisciplinary environment, with a very supportive team, and get to experience the beautiful Australian lifestyle and weather – nothing like our European winters!”