Andrew Dillon

Dr. Dillon's expertise is in employing a multidisciplinary approach to the characterization and analysis of medical devices and their constituent materials. He is proficient in colloid characterization, crystal structure analysis, multiphysics finite element modeling, nanocrystal synthesis, electrochemistry, and morphological, optical, and electrical characterization techniques. 

Dr. Dillon has also done work designing and operating microreactors for thin-film deposition, optimizing chemical synthesis yields, and developing techniques for nanocrystal surface modification. He routinely applies his extensive background in material characterization to evaluate bulk materials and coatings used in semiconductors and medical devices. He has leveraged his expertise in material analysis for the characterization of orthopedic wear debris, explanted medical devices, and synthetic bone filler using techniques like zeta-sizing, DLS, electron microscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction.

Additionally, he has extensive experience in evaluation of the safety of passive medical devices in MRI environments. Using multiphysics computational modeling (via COMSOL, Matlab and Python), he has determined worst-case configurations of modular medical devices to optimize and focus MRI-compatibility tests. He has also designed, performed, and reviewed over 25 MRI-compatibility tests on medical devices ranging from large orthopedic product families to prototyped implantable computer chips.

Dr. Dillon obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University where he developed electrophoretic deposition of semiconducting nanocrystals for scalable and sustainable manufacturing of photovoltaics. This work spanned from the synthesis and preparation of colloidal nanocrystals to reactor design and electrophoretic deposition of semiconducting thin-films to optoelectronic and morphological characterization of the resulting deposits. In addition, he collaborated with the Material Science and Engineering department to explore solution-processing methods for fabricating transparent conductors with colloidal 2D Ti3C2.