CHEMBIOENG1: Nanotechnology I: Nanoparticles at Air-Liquid Interfaces
Mentors: Dr. Anson Ma, Assistant Professor, Institute of Materials Science & Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Sahil Vora, Graduate Student
The common theme of Dr. Ma’s research group, Complex Fluids Laboratory, is to understand the complex flow behavior of complex fluids. Of particular interests are foams, emulsions, biological fluids, and fluids containing nanoparticles. The ultimate goal is to develop effective, scalable techniques for processing these materials into multifunctional, high performance articles (e.g., films, fibers, and polymer composites) .This project focuses on understanding the assembly and flow properties of nanoparticles at a fluid-fluid interface. This topic is particularly exciting because the research findings will enable the creation of ultra-stable particle-stabilized emulsions that will revolutionize the use of nanoparticles in enhanced oil recovery and suppressing coalescence in polymer blends. Also, understanding the interfacial behavior of nanoparticles will help us to understand the fate of both naturally occurring and engineered nanoparticles in the environment and wastewater treatment processes (e.g., flotation), potentially influencing the sustainable use of nanoparticles.
Read about Anson Ma’s recent award!
CHEMBIOENG2: Nanotechnology II: Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery
Mentors: Dr. Anson Ma, Assistant Professor, Institute of Materials Science & Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Erik Carboni, Graduate Student
The common theme of Dr. Ma’s research group, Complex Fluids Laboratory, is to understand the complex flow behavior of complex fluids. Of particular interests are foams, emulsions, biological fluids, and fluids containing nanoparticles. The ultimate goal is to develop effective, scalable techniques for processing these materials into multifunctional, high performance articles (e.g., films, fibers, and polymer composites). Choose this mentorship site and you will work on a project that involves understanding the distribution of nanoparticles in simulated blood flows (created in microfluidic devices). The success of the proposed research will lead to the rational design of nanoparticles to allow more specific delivery of anticancer drugs into tumors, thereby increasing patient comfort during treatment.
Read about Anson Ma’s recent award!
CHEMBIOENG4: Nanotechnology IV: 3-D Printing for Biomedical Applications
Mentors: Dr. Anson Ma, Assistant Professor, Institute of Materials Science & Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Huseini Patanwala, Graduate Student
The common theme of Dr. Ma’s research group, Complex Fluids Laboratory, is to understand the complex flow behavior of complex fluids. Of particular interests are foams, emulsions, biological fluids, and fluids containing nanoparticles. The ultimate goal is to develop effective, scalable techniques for processing these materials into multifunctional, high performance articles (e.g., films, fibers, and polymer composites). 3-D printing shows great promise in producing biological scaffolds for regenerative medicine. In the future, it may even be possible to “print” implantable organs. Really! Choose this site and you will learn about the basics of 3-D printing. You will be given the opportunity to (1) use a 3-D printer and (2) investigate how the printing process influences the final properties of the printed objects. Assist us with cutting-edge biomedical engineering research!
Read about Anson Ma’s recent award!
CHEMBIOENG5: Multifunctional Nanostructured Materials
Mentors: Dr. Luyi Sun, Associate Professor, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Program, Institute of Materials Science & his team of scholars, graduate students, and researchers
We are a group of materials scientists/engineers who are interested in creating new materials for various applications ……. and having fun. Overall, we are engaged in four areas of materials research: Nanostructured Materials, Polymeric Materials, Green Science, and Solid State Chemistry. Our research covers a wide range of materials, including polymeric materials, ceramics and glasses, and composites. One of our main goals is to design materials with unique structure (down to nano- and molecular-scale) for specific applications, such as packaging, energy, catalysis, etc. In most cases, the structural design and control are the keys to the high performance of these materials. Participants in this site will learn how to assemble nanoscale building blocks to prepare various materials (like playing with very small Legos) as well as test their properties for potential practical applications.
CHEMBIOENG6: Formation of Nanoparticles – Controlling Size & Shape
Mentors: Dr. Mu-Ping Nieh, Associate Professor, Institute of Materials Science/Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering; and Yan Xia & Ying Liu, Graduate Research Assistants
Nanobiotechnology, bionanotechnology, and nanobiology are terms that refer to the intersection of nanotechnology and biology. Nanobiotechnology indicates the merger of biological research with various fields of nanotechnology. Concepts that are enhanced through nanobiotechnology include nanoparticles. This technical approach to biology allows scientists to imagine and create systems that can be used for biological research. Biologically inspired nanotechnology uses biological systems as the inspirations for technologies not yet created. Dr. Nieh’s research mainly focuses on the studies of soft materials (including phospholipids, polymers, surfactants) through structural characterization to understand the chemical physics of the systems in interest, which has important potential for practical applications. The common method employed by the group is scattering such as neutron, X-ray and light scattering. “Nanoparticles” are applicable in medical, sensing, and optical researches due to their small sizes which are in the range of nanometers (1 nanometer = a billionth of a meter). We have developed many lipid-based nanoparticles that have a variety of shapes (spheres, disks, long ribbons, sheet-like) through self-assembly which means the nanoparticles spontaneously form by themselves. Our research group has established methods to control the size and shape of the nanoparticles. If you choose this site, you will have an opportunity to assist the scientists learn more about how molecular interactions and molecular architectures can be applied to control the shape and size of the nanoparticles, further advancing the nanobiotechnology.
CHEMBIOENG7: Making “Nano-pockets” for Nanoparticles
Mentors: Dr. Mu-Ping Nieh, Associate Professor, Institute of Materials Science/Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering; and Armin Tahmasbi Rad, Graduate Research Assistants
Nanobiotechnology indicates the merger of biological research with various fields of nanotechnology. Concepts that are enhanced through nanobiotechnology include nanoparticles. This technical approach to biology allows scientists to imagine and create systems that can be used for biological research. Nanometer (1 nanometer = a billionth of a meter) sized particles have many potential applications in biomedicines and biotechnologies because the small size of the particles greatly enhances the internalization into cancer cells (i.e., cancer cells love to “eat” them). Based on our well established strategy to make self-assembled (i.e., spontaneously forming) lipid-based nanoparticles, we can wrap other nanoparticles (nano gold clusters, quantum dots, etc…) inside the lipid nanoparticles which become nano-pockets. Then the loaded nanopockets will have the potential to serve as biodiagnostic particles to detect cancer cells with a high sensitivity. If you choose this site, you will help the scientists in the research group to design such nano-pockets and understand how the loading nanoparticles affect the final shape and size of the nanopockets.