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Vasile Nistor
Assistant Professor,
Endowed Dr. James Russell Myers STEM Professor
Engineering Technology

Vasile Nistor

Contact Info

513-785-1814
Hamilton Campus, Phelps 207G

Education

Dr. Nistor holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Gh Asachi Technical University, a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Binghamton University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles.

  • PhD, Mechanical Engineering, UCLA Los Angeles CA, 2009
  • MS, Mechanical Engineering, Binghamton University NY, 1998
  • BS, Mechanical Engineering, Gh Asachi Technical University Romania, 1993

Academic Experience

Prior to current position, Dr Nistor held the role of Assistant Professor and Director of the Minimally Invasive Medical Technology Center (MIMTeC), an NSF-sponsored Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) at the University of Cincinnati.

  • Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Technology, January 2025 – present
  • Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Technology, May 2024 – December 2024
  • University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Sept 2009 – August 2015

Fundamental Science Research

Dr Nistor’s diverse academic background has honed his problem-solving skills and equipped him with the ability to approach engineering challenges from multifaceted perspectives. He has accumulated over seven years of experience in academic teaching and research.  In addition to his role as Principal Investigator (PI) for the NSF I/UCRC, which aims to bridge the industry-academic research gap, Dr. Nistor was also awarded basic science research grants. Notably, he received the NSF CAREER award for “Bio-Enabled Actuating Materials (BEAM) to Power Autonomous Mobility” as PI and Co-PI on the NSF EAGER (Early-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research) titled “Monitoring Nation’s Waters – Towards a Swimming Biosensor to Dynamically Map Microbial Contamination.”

Fundamental Research Awards

  • CAREER: Bio-Enabled Actuating Materials (BEAM) to Power Autonomous Mobility”, NSF CAREER, Funds requested $524,993, July 2016, PI
  • NSF 2012-2014, EAGER (Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research), “Monitoring Nation’s Waters – Towards A Swimming Biosensor To Dynamically Map Microbial Contamination” Funds: $100,000, Co-PI
  • NSF 2010-2013 I/UCRC, MIMTEC, Industry Funds: $245,194, PI

Fundamental Research Publications

  1. Yeghiazarian L. and Nistor V. “The HydroGrid as a framework for interconnected water systems: Emerging technologies, 2018 Water Resources Research 54 (12), 9712-9723
  2. Nistor V, Cannell J, Gregory J, Yeghiazarian L “Stimuli-responsive cylindrical hydrogels mimic intestinal peristalsis to propel a solid object”, Soft Matter, 2016, DOI: 10.1039/C5SMo2553B
  3. Bell A, Kofron M, Nistor V, “Multiphoton Cross-linking for Biocompatible 3D Fabrication of Type I Collagen” Biofabrication, 7 (2015) 035007
  4. Bell A, Nistor V, “Multiphoton Cross-linking for Biocompatible 3D Fabrication of Type I Collagen” Invention Disclosure March 2015
  5. Stegman J, Casstevens C, Kelley T, and Nistor V. “Patient-Specific Guides for Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Paired Acetabular and Femoral Implantation Approach,” ASME J. Med. Devices. 9(1), 011006 (2015) (7 pages); Paper No: MED-14-1198; doi: 10.1115/1.4028945
  6. Gregory J, Cannel J, Kofron M, Yeghiazarian L, Nistor V, “Functionalization of Hybrid PNIPAM Hydrogels for Escherichia coli Cell Capture via Adsorbed Intermediate Dye Molecule”, J Applied Polymer Science, 132(10), 2014
  7. Gregory J, Riasi MS, Cannel J, Arora H, Yeghiazarian L, Nistor V, “Remote controlled peristaltic locomotion in free-floating PNIPAM Hydrogels”, J Applied Polymer Science, 131 (20), 2014
  8. Korte C, Nair S, Nistor V, Doarn C, Schaffner G, Low T, “Determining the Threshold of Time-Delay for Teleoperation Accuracy and Efficiency in Relation to Telesurgery” Telemedicine and e-Health, March 2014.
  9. Allen, B., Nistor, V., Dutson, E., Carman, G., Lewis, C., Faloutsos, P. (2010). Support vector machines improve the accuracy of evaluation for the performance of laparoscopic training tasks. Surgical Endoscopy, 24(1), 170-178. doi: 10.1007/s00464-009-0556-6
  10. Son J, Bourges JL, Culjat MO, Nistor V, Dutson EP, Carman GP, Hubschman JP. (2009). “Quantification of intraocular surgery motions with an electromagnetic tracking system,” Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 142.
  11. Yeghiazarian, L, Arora, H, Nistor, V, Montemagno, C, & Wiesner, U. (2007). Teaching hydrogels how to move like an earthworm. Soft Matter, 3(8), 939-944.

Engineering Education Research

Dr. Nistor’s fundamental science research translated into classroom education. He served as a Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) on several education grants, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) S-STEM “Bridging Our Students to Their Future” and the NSF REU “Challenge-Based Learning and Engineering Design Process Enhanced Research Experiences for Middle and High School In-Service Teachers.”

Engineering Education Awards

  1. NSF 2014-2019, S-STEM: "Bridging Our Students to Their Future", Funds: $598,795, Co-PI
  2. NSF 2014-2017 REU “Challenge-Based Learning and Engineering Design Process Enhanced Research Experiences for Middle and High School In-Service Teachers”, Funds: $498,949, Co-PI
  3. “Research Experiences for Undergraduates: Sites and Supplements”, NSF, Funds $5,985, PI

Engineering Education Publication

  1. Kukreti A, Thiel S, Yeghiazarian L, Nistor V, Matthews C, Maltbie C, Aure T “Integrating the Challenge Based Learning Approach in a Freshman Engineering Foundations Course: Project Team Perspective”, Proceedings of the 2015 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Entrepreneurship

Dr. Nistor’s research has led to the establishment of several entrepreneurship outlays funded by grants from the UC Technology Commercialization Accelerator, the U-OREF (University - Orthopedic Research and Education Foundation), the Mayfield Foundation/NSF, and the National Science Foundation (NSF). These grants have supported projects such as “Ortho-Specific – Patient Specific guides for Total Hip Arthroplasty,” “Research Strategy for the Design, Development and Testing of Patient-Specific Guides in Total Joint Arthroplasty,” and “Total Hip Arthroplasty using CT-generated custom specific instrumentation.”

  1. Turtle Adventures LLC, Founder & CEO, 2022 – present
  2. OrthoSpecific Inc, Founder & CEO, 2016-2022
  3. Kionix Inc, Product Development, 1997-2004

Startup Funding

  1. U-OREF (University - Orthopedic Research and Education Foundation) 2015-2016, “Research Strategy for the Design, Development and Testing of Patient-Specific Guides in Total Joint Arthroplasty”, Funds: $15,000, PI
  2. BCEE Seed Grant 2014-2015, “Controlled Insertion of Cochlear Electrode Array” Funds: $25,000, PI
  3. UC Technology Commercialization Accelerator 2014-2015, “Ortho-Specific – Patient Specific guides for Total Hip Arthroplasty”, Funds: $40,000, PI
  4. U-OREF 2013, “Total Hip Arthroplasty using CT-generated custom specific instrumentation”, Funds: $6,600, PI

Patents

  1. Nistor V, Yeghiazarian L, Soft Actuators. Invention Disclosure January 2016
  2. Bell A, Nistor V, “Multiphoton Cross-linking for Biocompatible 3D Fabrication of Type I Collagen” Invention Disclosure March 2015
  3. Patient Specific Assemblies, Jigs and Methods For A Personalized Total Hip Arthroplasty System, Nistor V, Stegman J, Kelley T, Casstevens C, PCT/US14/25568, March 2014
  4. Z-Axis Angular Rate Sensor, EP 1671135, 2011, Chojnacki E, Epstein Jp, Nenadic N, Stirling N, Nistor, V.
  5. Z-Axis Angular Rate Sensor, US PTO 7,036,372 B2, 2006, Chojnacki E, Epstein JP, Nenadic N, Stirling N, Nistor, V.