Realize jointly works with academy and industries to support the development and the application of surface treatment manufacturing and surface functionalization techniques in the field of biomedical applications. The surface state of components for different applications often determines their performance and functionality. It therefore requires the possibility of locally modifying the surfaces of some products to confer properties that, normally, the base material does not possess. This process, known as functionalization, attracts enormous scientific and industrial interest. Appropriately modifying the surface of the material represents a unique tool for attributing new properties to traditional materials: it extends the field of use, allowing a wide range of additional functions to be obtained, compensating for the deficiencies of the starting material and maintaining, at the same time, its peculiar properties at the bulk level. Consequently, the functionalization of surfaces has become crucial for academic research and for the development of industrial products whose use in the technical field is potentially infinite.

Realize aims to study and characterize the surface functionalization techniques, training companies on existing processes, supporting them in choosing the most suitable technology for improving the surface characteristics of their products. It will focus on a specific family of surface functionalization techniques for the production of biomedical products, typically bone plates and fixation devices. Among these techniques the following will be deeply analyzed:

• Functionalization through plastic deformation processes (burnishing, turning, peening, etc.);
• Functionalization by chemical etching;
• Functionalization by laser texturing.