Director of the Research Lab

Education

BSc, MSc, and PhD in Mechanical Engineering | Queen's University

Positions at Queen's University

Full Professor | Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Queen's University

Applied Science Inaugural Chair for Women in Engineering | Queen's University

Research Interests

Studying the nature of bone, bone adaptation and joint biomechanics as they relate to orthopaedic solutions as well as to the developing field of computer-aided surgery.

1. Bone Mechanobiology
2. Bone Biomechanics
3. Orthopaedic Biomechanics and Preclinical Analysis of Orthopaedic Implants
4. Development of Implantable Medical Devices
5. Rehabilitation and Sports Biomechanics

Short Biography

Dr. Ploeg is a Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and Chair for Women in Engineering at Smith Engineering, Queen's University at Kingston, ON, Canada. With over 30 years of industry and academic experience, Dr. Ploeg is recognized internationally as a leader in orthopaedic biomechanics. Her testing and modelling of live bone culture is unique, made possible through a bioreactor and loading system. Through her industrial and clinical partners, Dr. Ploeg's research impacts product design, orthopaedic surgery, and therapy. She has advised over 80 Graduate Students, published and presented over 300 peer-reviewed research papers, and is an inventor on several patents. She received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada in 2000. She was the Director Preclinical Stress Analysis Group in the Research Department at Sulzer Orthopedics Ltd. (now Zimmer-Biomet GmbH), Winterthur, Switzerland from 1992-2002. Her research focus is orthopaedic biomechanics including design of medical devices, bone modelling and remodelling, experimental methods, and finite element modelling.

Teaching Objectives

• Expose mechanical engineering students to non-traditional applications of engineering design.
• Inspire under-represented students to pursue engineering.
• Provide educational opportunities with interfaces between orthopaedic medicine and engineering.

Currently Teaching

• MECH 829 - Tissue Mechanics | Queen's University
• APSC 200 - Engineering Design and Practice | Queen's University
• MECH 333 - Gender, Engineering and Technology | Queen's University

Chair for Women in Engineering

Dr. Heidi-Lynn Ploeg was appointed as the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science’s inaugural Chair for Women in Engineering.

Visit the Women in Engineering at Queen's University page.

Land Acknowledgement

Global Native Land Map and Territory Acknowledgement Guide

"While all of us are encouraged to honor the history of the land we live on, I would like to reflect on my own positionality, with parents who immigrated from Europe. I reflect on the privileges I experience here in Kingston, and the ways in which I have benefited from a colonial project that has its foundations in the exploitation of many nations here - in what we now call Canada - and around the world, for the benefit of my ancestors and myself. I would encourage us all to consider our own positionality on this land and act on whatever privileges we have so that we might contribute towards the work of decolonizing our institutions and our minds. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the indigenous people."

- Heidi-Lynn Ploeg, 2023 International Women in Engineering Day Lunch held at Queen's University

Awards

• Fellow of Orthopaedic Research Society (2024)
• Way Memorial Trust Award (2023)
• Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision (2023)
• Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineering (2021)
• Discovery Accelerator Supplement (2019)

Podcasts and Videos

View the podcast: Canadian Society of Biomechanics (CSB), Skeletal Tissues and Smart Materials (September 2021)

View the podcast: Women of Scientista, Patching up the Leaky Pipeline (March 2021)

View the video: Keynote Speaker, Diversity Matters and the Future is in Good Hands, Queen’s Engineering Society 2020 Memorial for National Day of Remembrance and Action on violence against Women, Kingston, ON (December 2020)

View the video: Opening Remarks, Women in Engineering Queen’s Student and Alumni Panel, Kingston, ON (December 2020)