For almost two decades, Washington State University researchers Amit Bandyopadhyay and Susmita Bose have worked to improve the materials used in hip and knee replacements that up to a million people in the U.S. receive each year.

In the 1990s, the research team was studying rapid prototyping, also called 3–D printing, before most of us even knew what it was. A decade later, they started working with powders at the nanoscale and printing out customized hip bones from computerized images in their laboratory. “The first 10 years were spent converting the nonbelievers to believers,” said Bandyopadhyay. “Then we worked to convince industry it can be successful. Now people realize it’s real.”

In the past two years, the researchers have received six patents on technology that could improve recovery time and outcomes for the common surgical procedures. Their ideas include porous metal or biomaterial–based implants, new drug delivery systems and infection control using silver.

In the last couple of years, they also have edited two books on biomaterials and additive manufacturing, or 3–D printing, and are working on two five–year National Institutes of Health grants. Along the way, they have provided training for more than 60 graduate students and have garnered prestigious national and international recognition. That recognition includes Bose’s Presidential Early Career Award, the nation’s highest early career science award given by the U.S. President at the White House, and Bandyopadhyay’s recent election to the National Academy of Inventors.

Their work promises to become increasingly important in the years ahead as the U.S. population ages and looks for better solutions for their arthritic joints.