Maverick Engineering Social Media

Student Profile

Tre Welch – Keeping Those Lifelines Open

Tre Welch had earned bachelor degrees in mechanical engineering and in chemistry at UT Arlington in 1998. He joined the Harris Corp., where he worked with composite materials in the manufacturing of large antennas and other electronic devices.

But then a telecom start-up in Richardson offered Trey a position that had the potential for exponential growth. The company’s products – optical switches and harmonic equalizers – were used by major communications companies worldwide. He took their offer.

Unfortunately, in less than a year, the tech bubble burst. Even though the products were good, sales plummeted and the company folded. Tre decided it was time for a change.

“I decided to reinvent myself,” Tre recounted. “The field of biomechanics had always interested me; it was in the back of my mind while I was getting the mechanical engineering degree. My father had a pacemaker and its operation intrigued me. So I decided to apply the industrial knowledge I had gained to academic research.”

When Tre began his studies for a master’s in biomedical engineering in 2003, he met Dr. Robert Eberhart, who was perfecting polymer stents that were eventually absorbed by the body. Tre joined the project, figuring his skills in structural analysis would be useful.

Tre completed his classroom coursework by December 2005 and began his research in earnest, under the director of Dr. C. J. Chuong.

Tre was working part time for an aviation support manufacturer in Fort Worth, where he learned a new CAD software application that would also be useful for his studies of stent mechanics. He created simulations mimicking the stresses stents encounter as they twist, stretch and bend while being implanted, letting him observe their built-in plasticity to maintain their expanded position.

The research project was completed in August of 2006 and Tre received his master’s degree. His master’s thesis, “Characterizing the Expansive Deformation of a Bioresorbable Polymer Fiber Stent,” was later published in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering.

Tre enjoyed the challenges of his research and decided to pursue a doctoral degree. He continued to work with stents, this time studying how annealing the stent’s poly-L-lactic-acid (PLLA) fibers would affect its structural characteristics and life. Annealing, or heat treating, is commonly used to provide strength and hardness to metals. However, in this case, the opposite occurred; the annealed PLLA fibers became softer and more malleable, enabling the stent to maintain a more uniform shape after expansion.

Because the annealed PLLA had more geometric stability, Tre was able to create a new stent design; a patent is in process. He hopes to be able to infuse the stent with anti-inflammatory agents. He also discovered that stents made of PLLA with a higher molecular weight had a longer life, up to three years before being completely absorbed.

Tre’s work had resulted in some well-earned recognition. His poster describing his research took the President’s Award in the spring 2008 ACES competition at UT Arlington. He also won a “Top Five” award in the fall 2008 UT Southwestern graduate student competition. “They don’t award first, second, third or other positions,” said Tre. “Just the top five out of 96.” His paper with Bioengineering Professors Eberhart and Chuong, “Influence of Thermal Treatment on the Mechanical Characteristics of PLLA Coiled Stents,” has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Biomaterials Science.

Tre plans to graduate in August. After that? “Vacation.”