Prof. Ing. Joseph Buhagiar

Prof. Ing. Joseph Buhagiar

Prof. Ing. Joseph Buhagiar

  B.Eng.(Hons),Ph.D.(Birm.)

Associate Professor

Room 012
Engineering Building
University of Malta
Msida
  +356 2340 2439

Head of Department

Joseph Buhagiar received his B.Eng (Hons) degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Malta in 2003. He joined the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering of the University of Malta as an Assistant Lecturer in 2004 and in 2008 he received a PhD degree in Plasma Surface Engineering and Characterisation of Biomedical Stainless Steels, at the University of Birmingham (UK). Prior to joining the University of Malta he worked as a design engineer with Methode Electronics Malta.

Following his PhD studies at the University of Birmingham, he became a University of Malta Lecturer in 2008. He was promoted to senior lecturer in 2013 and associate professor in 2016. He is on the Editorial board of the Journal of Surface Engineering and represents Malta on the Coal and Steel Committee.

Prof. Ing. Buhagiar’s current research interest is in the fields of biomaterials, biodegradation and surface engineering of biomedical materials. He is the project leader of the BioSA project (Biodegradable Iron for Orthopaedic Scaffold applications) and a collaborator in the MALTAHIP project (Development of a low-wearing novel hip joint prosthesis for longer lifespan). Both project have been financed by the Malta Council for Science and Technology through Fusion: The R&I Technology Development Programme.

In 2013 he was appointed Honorary Consul of the Republic of Colombia with jurisdiction over Malta (Decree 0613 of 2013). In 2018 he was conferred the National Order of Merit of the Republic of Colombia in the grade of Knight (Decree 1728 of 2017). The decoration was bestowed since Prof. Ing. Buhagiar's academic profile was fundamental for the permanent support that he gives to Colombian students in Malta and for the links that he has forged between universities in both countries.
  • Biomaterials
  • Surface Engineering
  • Corrosion
  • S-phase
  • Carburising
  • Corrosion-Wear
  • Biodegradation

CALIGARI CONTI, M., AQUILINA, D., PATERNOSTER, C., VELLA, D., SINAGRA, E., MANTOVANI, D., CASSAR, G., SCHEMBRI WISMAYER, P. and BUHAGIAR, J., 2018. Influence of cold rolling on in vitro cytotoxicity and electrochemical behaviour of an Fe-Mn-C biodegradable alloy in physiological solutions. Heliyon, 4(11), pp. e00926.

CASSAR, J., MALLIA, B., KARL, A. and BUHAGIAR, J., 2017. The effect of sliding onto the metal-electrolyte interface: Studying model parameter modifications by means of EIS. Materials Science and Engineering: C, 75, pp. 1366-1375.

CASSAR, J., MALLIA, B., KARL, A. and BUHAGIAR, J., 2016. EIS of carburised CoCrMo: Evolution of parameters characterising the metal-electrolyte interface. Surface and Coatings Technology, 292, pp. 90-98.

MANISCALCO, S., CALIGARI CONTI, M., CASSAR, J., GRIMA, C., KARL, A., SCHEMBRI WISMAYER, P., MALLIA, B. and BUHAGIAR, J., 2016. Low temperature carburised austenitic stainless steel for metal-on-metal tribological contact. Thin Solid Films, 620, pp. 103-113.

OBAYI, C.S., TOLOUEI, R., PATERNOSTER, C., TURGEON, S., OKORIE, B.A., OBIKWELU, D.O., CASSAR, G., BUHAGIAR, J. and MANTOVANI, D., 2015. Influence of cross-rolling on the micro-texture and biodegradation of pure iron as biodegradable material for medical implants. Acta Biomaterialia, 17, pp. 68-77.

SCERRI, A., BUHAGIAR, J., BANFIELD, S., AVELAR-BATISTA WILSON, J.C., HOUSDEN, J., LEYLAND, A., MATTHEWS, A. and CASSAR, G., 2015. Corrosion behaviour of triode plasma diffusion treated and PVD TiN-coated Ti–6Al–4V in acidified aqueous chloride environments. Surface and Coatings Technology, 280, pp. 185-193.

BUHAGIAR, J., SPITERI, A., SACCO, M., SINAGRA, E. and DONG, H., 2012. Augmentation of crevice corrosion resistance of medical grade 316LVM stainless steel by plasma carburising. Corrosion Science, 59, pp. 169-178.

FORMOSA, D., HUNGER, R., SPITERI, A., DONG, H., SINAGRA, E. and BUHAGIAR, J., 2012. Corrosion behaviour of carbon S-phase created on Ni-free biomedical stainless steel. Surface and Coatings Technology, 206(16), pp. 3479-3487.

BUHAGIAR, J., QIAN, L. and DONG, H., 2010. Surface property enhancement of Ni-free medical grade austenitic stainless steel by low-temperature plasma carburising. Surface and Coatings Technology, 205(2), pp. 388-395.

  • ENR1120 - Fundamentals of Mechanical Engineering
  • ENR5006 - Research Methods for Engineering
  • ENR5101 - Advanced Manufacturing Processes and Methodologies
  • MME1101 - Principles of Materials Engineering
  • MME1201 - Fundamentals of Material Science 1
  • MME3201 - Engineering Materials 1
  • MME3213 - Introduction to Surface Engineering
  • MME4109 - Introduction to Biomaterials
  • MME5101 - Materials Engineering in Products and Processes
Involvement in Projects:

Biodegradable Iron for Orthopaedic Scaffold Applications (BioSA)
Malta Council for Science and Technology (Kalkara) | 2018-07 to 2021-08 |Grant
Project NUMBER: R&I2017-037T
Project Value: EUR 194,960
Project Partner: Mater Dei Hospital


Development of a low-wearing novel hip joint prosthesis for longer lifespan (MaltaHIP)
Malta Council for Science and Technology (Kalkara) | 2016-10 to 2019-10 |Grant
Project Number: R&I-2015-023T
Project Value: EUR 199,593
Project Partner: MCL Ltd.

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