Maurice Collins


 
researcher

Biography

Dr Maurice N. Collins is a senior lecturer in Biomedical Engineering in the School of Engineering at the University of Limerick. He is Principal Investigator (PI) at the Bernal Institute, the Health Research Institute and FI at the SFI AMBER center based in Trinity College Dublin. He leads the H2020 funded LIBRE consortium (lignin for carbon fiber), the largest consortium in biobased carbon fibre research in Europe as well as being PI on multiple national funded projects. He is currently scientific lead of the H2020 funded VIBES consortium. His expertise includes Regenerative medicine, hydrogels and biobased carbon fibre precursor materials as well as the development of 3D printable Polymers. Dr Collins has a strong track record in attracting industrially funded research projects including Mitsubishi Materials, Henkel, J&J, Pepsi etc. He has won in excess of €12 million in competitive funding with 9 years of continuous competitive EU funding (2016 - 2025). His industrial work has led to 2 licensing agreements and 9 patents filed. Coupled to this, he has authored >150 publications on Polymer Science related topics and his research has featured in various national and international media outlets. His research has been recognised through various awards including: Marie Curie Actions Award, Licencing Agreement Award, Best Journal Paper Award, Highlight Conference Paper Award, ISI highly cited award, Best oral presentations and UL Seed Funding. He is a reviewer for > 40 international Journals. He sits on the editorial board of Carbohydrate Polymers. He is proposal assessor for the Polish Academy of Science, Israeli Ministry of Science and H2020. He has chaired sessions at the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), European Society for Biomaterials and World Biomaterials Congress. Maurice lectures polymer therapeutics to postgraduate students and Tissue Engineering to Undergraduates. He currently supervises 8 PhD candidates, 6 postdocs and is Course Director for the MSc in Biomedical Device Materials. He is editor of the international journal of biological macromolecules published by Elsevier. He was recently awarded the Bernal Institute senior researcher of the year award. His work to date has led to >4.5k citations with a h -index of 37.

Research Interests

Polymeric materials; Biomaterials; Lead free solder materials; Reliabilty physics.

Books

  Year Publication
2014 Hyaluronic Acid for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications.
Maurice N Collins (2014) Hyaluronic Acid for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications. Shawbury UK: Smithers Rapra. [Details]

Book Chapters

  Year Publication
2009 'Encyclopedia of Polymer Composites: Properties, Performance and Applications'
Kafil M. Razeeb, Ju Xu, Eric D. Dalton, Muhammad M. Ramli, Maurice N. Collins and Saibal Roy (2009) 'Encyclopedia of Polymer Composites: Properties, Performance and Applications' In: Thermal properties of carbon nanotube-silicone composites. New Youk: Nova Science Publishers. [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
2007 'Comparison of the effectiveness of four different crosslinking agents with hyaluronic acid hydrogel films for tisslue-culture applications'
Collins, MN; Birkinshaw, C (2007) 'Comparison of the effectiveness of four different crosslinking agents with hyaluronic acid hydrogel films for tisslue-culture applications'. JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE, 104 (5):3183-3191 [DOI] [Details]
2008 'Crystal ageing in irradiated ultra high molecular weight polyethylene'
Barron, D; Collins, MN; Flannery, MJ; Leahy, JJ; Birkinshaw, C (2008) 'Crystal ageing in irradiated ultra high molecular weight polyethylene'. JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE-MATERIALS IN MEDICINE, 19 (6):2293-2299 [DOI] [Details]
2008 'Effect of Ag content on the microstructure of Sn-Ag-Cu based solder alloys'
Reid, M; Punch, J; Collins, M; Ryan, C (2008) 'Effect of Ag content on the microstructure of Sn-Ag-Cu based solder alloys'. SOLDERING & SURFACE MOUNT TECHNOLOGY, 20 (4):3-8 [DOI] [Details]
2008 'Investigation of the swelling behavior of crosslinked hyaluronic acid films and hydrogels produced using homogeneous reactions'
Collins, MN; Birkinshaw, C (2008) 'Investigation of the swelling behavior of crosslinked hyaluronic acid films and hydrogels produced using homogeneous reactions'. JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE, 109 (2):923-931 [DOI] [Details]
2008 'Physical properties of crosslinked hyaluronic acid hydrogels'
Collins, MN; Birkinshaw, C (2008) 'Physical properties of crosslinked hyaluronic acid hydrogels'. JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE-MATERIALS IN MEDICINE, 19 (11):3335-3343 [DOI] [Details]
2009 'Development of the powder reaction moulding process'
Zhao, L; Collins, MN; Birkinshaw, C (2009) 'Development of the powder reaction moulding process'. JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, 84 (3):454-460 [DOI] [Details]
2009 'A Phenomenological Study of the Effect of Microstructural Evolution on Pb-free Solder Joint Fatigue Resistance'
Coyle, R; Reid, M; Osenbach, J; Ryan, C; Read, P; Fleming, D; Popowich, R; McCormick, H; Punch, J; Collins, M; Koshmeider, T; Manock, J; Kummerl, S; Chatterji, I (2009) 'A Phenomenological Study of the Effect of Microstructural Evolution on Pb-free Solder Joint Fatigue Resistance'. JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, Accepted for publication in a special edition [Details]
2011 'Thermal Fatigue and Failure Analysis of SnAgCu Solder Alloys with Minor Pb Additions'
Collins, MN; Punch, J; Coyle, R; Reid, M; Popowich, R; Read, P; Fleming, D (2011) 'Thermal Fatigue and Failure Analysis of SnAgCu Solder Alloys with Minor Pb Additions'. Ieee Transactions On Components Packaging And Manufacturing Technology, 1 :1594-1600 [DOI] [Details]
2011 'Corrosion under mixed flowing gas conditions of various connector coatings'
Collins, MN and Reid, M. and Dalton, E. and Shannon, K. and Garfias-Mesias, LF (2011) 'Corrosion under mixed flowing gas conditions of various connector coatings'. Materials and Corrosion, [Details]
2011 'Morphology of Cross linked Hyaluronic Acid Porous Hydrogels'
Collins, MN; Birkinshaw, C (2011) 'Morphology of Cross linked Hyaluronic Acid Porous Hydrogels'. JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE, 120 (2):1040-1049 [DOI] [Details]
2011 'Phenomenological Study of the Effect of Microstructural Evolution on the Thermal Fatigue Resistance of Pb-Free Solder Joints'
Coyle, R; Osenbach, J; Collins, MN; McCormick, H; Read, P; Fleming, D; Popowich, R; Punch, J; Reid, M; Kummerl, S (2011) 'Phenomenological Study of the Effect of Microstructural Evolution on the Thermal Fatigue Resistance of Pb-Free Solder Joints'. Ieee Transactions On Components Packaging And Manufacturing Technology, 1 :1583-1593 [DOI] [Details]
2012 'Surface finish effect on reliability of SAC 305 soldered chip resistors'
Collins, MN,Punch, J,Coyle, R (2012) 'Surface finish effect on reliability of SAC 305 soldered chip resistors'. Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, 24 :240-248 [DOI] [Details]
2012 'Testing method for measuring corrosion resistance of surface mount chip resistors'
Reid, M,Collins, MN,Dalton, E,Punch, J,Tanner, DA (2012) 'Testing method for measuring corrosion resistance of surface mount chip resistors'. Microelectronics Reliability, 52 :1420-1427 [DOI] [Details]
2012 'Corrosion of RoHS-Compliant Surface Finishes in Corrosive Mixed Flowing Gas Environments'
Hannigan, K,Reid, M,Collins, MN,Dalton, E,Xu, C,Wright, B,Demirkan, K,Opila, RL,Reents, WD,Franey, JP,Fleming, DA,Punch, J (2012) 'Corrosion of RoHS-Compliant Surface Finishes in Corrosive Mixed Flowing Gas Environments'. Journal Of Electronic Materials, 41 :611-623 [DOI] [Details]
2012 'Crystal morphology of strained ultra high molecular weight polyethylenes'
Collins, MN,Dalton, E,Schaller, B,Leahy, JJ,Birkinshaw, C (2012) 'Crystal morphology of strained ultra high molecular weight polyethylenes'. Polymer Testing, 31 :629-637 [DOI] [Details]
2013 'Hyaluronic acid solutionsA processing method for efficient chemical modification'
Collins, MN,Birkinshaw, C (2013) 'Hyaluronic acid solutionsA processing method for efficient chemical modification'. Journal Of Applied Polymer Science, 130 :145-152 [DOI] [Details]
2013 'Corrosion under mixed flowing gas conditions of various connector coatings'
Collins, MN,Reid, M,Dalton, E,Shannon, K,Garfias-Mesias, LF (2013) 'Corrosion under mixed flowing gas conditions of various connector coatings'. Materials And Corrosion-Werkstoffe Und Korrosion, 64 :7-13 [DOI] [Details]
2013 'Effects of tensile strain on the nanostructure of irradiated and thermally stabilised ultra high molecular weight polyethylenes for orthopaedic devices'
Collins, MN,Dalton, E,Leahy, JJ,Birkinshaw, C (2013) 'Effects of tensile strain on the nanostructure of irradiated and thermally stabilised ultra high molecular weight polyethylenes for orthopaedic devices'. Rsc Advances, 3 :1995-2007 [DOI] [Details]
2014 'Lamella alignment ratio: a SAXS analysis technique for macromolecules'
Eric Dalton and Maurice N Collins (2014) 'Lamella alignment ratio: a SAXS analysis technique for macromolecules'. Journal Of Applied Crystallography, 47 :847-851 [DOI] [ULIR Link] [Details]

Conference Publications

  Year Publication
2004 IUPAC World Polymer Congress
M. Collins & M. Buggy (2004) Photoinitiated copolymerisation of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate and methacrylic acid IUPAC World Polymer Congress [Details]
2004 IUPAC World Polymer congress
M. Collins & M. Buggy (2004) An investigation into the hydrogel properties of HEMA based gels IUPAC World Polymer congress [Details]
2005 19th European conference on Biomaterials (ESB)
M. Collins & C. Birkinshaw (2005) Hyaluronic acid scaffolding materials 19th European conference on Biomaterials (ESB) [Details]
2007 24th International Manufacturing Conference
L. Zhao, M. Collins & C. Birkinshaw (2007) Reaction processing of ceramic powders – a novel environmentally friendly manufacturing route 24th International Manufacturing Conference [Details]
2008 SMTA International (SMTAI)
Maurice N. Collins; Mauro V. Aguanno; Michael Reid; Claire Ryan; Jeff Punch (2008) Analysis of Failure Mechanisms of Lead Free Alloys under Continuous Monitoring” SMTA International (SMTAI) [Details]
2008 SMTA International (SMTAI)
Mauro V. Aguanno; Maurice N. Collins; Cillian Burke; Michael Reid; Claire Ryan; Jeff Punch (2008) Reliability Testing of Doped Lead Free Solder Alloys SMTA International (SMTAI) [Details]
2009 EuroMat 2009
Maurice N Collins, Michael Reid & Jeff Punch ( (2009) Microstructural Effects on the Reliability of Lead Free Alloys EuroMat 2009 [Details]
2009 SMTAi
Michael Reid, Maurice N. Collins, Richard Coyle and Jeff Punch (2009) Surface finish effect on reliability of lead free electronic assemblies SMTAi [Details]
2009 EuroMat 2009
Maurice N Collins and Colin Birkinshaw (2009) A Re-Sorbable Natural Polymer for Tissue Engineering EuroMat 2009 [Details]
2009 IEEE Electronic Components and Technology Conference
Coyle R., Reid M., Ryan C., Popowich R., Read P., Fleming D., Collins M., Punch J., Chatterji I. (2009) The influence of the Pb-free solder alloy composition and processing parameters on thermal fatigue performance of a ceramic chip resistor IEEE Electronic Components and Technology Conference , pp.423-430 [DOI] [Details]
2009 EuroMat 2009
11. Lei Zhao, Maurice N. Collins and Colin Birkinshaw (2009) (2009) Powder-Monomer Reaction Moulding EuroMat 2009 [Details]
2009 Electrochemical Society (ECS)
Michael Reid and Maurice Collins (2009) Effect of flux chemistry on corrosion Electrochemical Society (ECS) [Details]
2012 ICSR, Toronto, Canada
Eric Dalton, Maurice N. Collins, Michael Reid, Jeff Punch (2012) May 16 -18. (2012) Conformal coating protection of surface mount resistors in harsh environments ICSR, Toronto, Canada [Details]
2012 International Conference on Soldering and Reliability
Eric Dalton, Amy Fleischer, Maurice N. Collins, Kafil Razeeb, Jeff Punch (2012) Graphite nanofibers composite thermal interface material International Conference on Soldering and Reliability [Details]
2012 62nd IEEE Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC)
Cillian Burke, Jeff Punch and Maurice Collins (2012) “Creep Behavior of Joint-Scale Sn1.0Ag0.5Cu Solder Shear Samples 62nd IEEE Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC) [Details]
2012 Surface Mount Technology Association International (SMTAi)
C. Xu, B. Wright, K. Demirkan, R. L. Opila, K. Hannigan, M. Reid, J. Punch, M.N. Collins, W.D. Reents, Jr., D.A. Fleming, J.P. Franey, G.E. Derkits Jr., P. Ahern, (2012) Corrosion mechanisms of lead-free PCB surface finishes in corrosive environments Surface Mount Technology Association International (SMTAi) [Details]
2012 Surface Mount and Technology Association (SMTAi)
Gavin Jackson, Ian J. Wilding, Richard Boyle, Puwei Liu, Matthew Holloway, Maurice N. Collins, Eric Dalton, Jeff Punch (2012) SnZn Solder Alternative for Low Cost Pb-free Surface Mount Assemblies Surface Mount and Technology Association (SMTAi) [Details]
2012 Bipoco 2012, Siofok, Hungary
Maurice N Collins (2012) “Chemically Modified Hyaluronic Acid for Medical Applications” Bipoco 2012, Siofok, Hungary [Details]
2012 ICSR, Toronto, Canada May 16 -18
Maurice N. Collins, Gavin J. Jackson, Eric Dalton, Jeff Punch, Hector Steen, Puwei Liu, Matthew Holloway (2012) Accelerated Temperature Cycling and Microstructural Analysis of SnZn solder in surface mount assemblies” ICSR, Toronto, Canada May 16 -18 [Details]

Honours and Awards

  Year Title Awarding Body
2014 Licensing Agreement UL
2013 UL Seed Funding UL Research Office
2005 Marie Curie Actions Award EU Marie Curie
2009 Highlight Paper Award EuroMAt 2009 EuroMaterials Conference Organising Committee
2010 Licensing Agreement Award Enterprise Ireland
2012 IEEE Transactions on Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology: Best Paper Award IEEE CPMT Society

Education

  Year Institution Qualification Subject
2002 University of Limerick Master of Science
2007 University of Limerick Doctor of Philosophy

Languages

  Language Reading Writing Speaking
Spanish Functional

Outreach Activities

  Description

Interviewed in Irish Times, Irish Examiner on the reliability of Orthopaedic Materials
 

Interviewed on Diamond Pod Cast on the significance of results obtained at the Diamond Synchrotron

Reviewer for > 15 ISI Journals including Carbohydrate Polymers, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, Cellulose, Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Med.; Tissue Engineering and Reg. Med.; Journal of Applied Polymer Science; ACS Journals.

Member of the Editoral Board of Carbohydrate Polymers Impact Factor 5.1

Modules Taught

  Term (ID)) Title Link Subject
Autumn Polymers For Biomedical Devices MT6061
Autumn Materials Technology 4 MT4905Polymeric Materials
Spring Biopolymer Science: Polymer Therapeuctics MT6062
Spring Materials Process Engineering MT4004