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Presenter: Prof. Andrea M. Armani - Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science, Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering-Electrophysics, University of Southern California
Supervisor:

Date: Tue, October 29, 2013
Time: 11:00:00 - 00:00:00
Place: ECS 660

ABSTRACT

Abstract:

Innovation in technology routinely leads the way for discovery in chemistry and biology. Most notably, x-ray diffraction data was instrumental in the elucidation of the structure of DNA. To explore the inherent complexity present in biological systems, existing technologies are being pushed to their limits. Once again, scientists are looking to engineers to create innovative solutions to enable their exploration and discovery. Many of the new methods currently being developed focus on increasing the sensitivity of the detection technique by inventing new devices as well as increasing the specificity of the device by engineering synthetic targeting moieties and improved attachment methods and improving the sample collection efficiency of the sensing element. This talk will present a few of the novel sensing devices which have been engineered to have significantly improved collection efficiencies as well as the complementary surface chemistry methods. The combination of these two achievements has enabled several novel biophysics experiments and significantly improved the sensing limits of the devices. Specifically, several covalent strategies for attaching antibodies and DNA to optical devices without degrading the performance of the device will be discussed. This approach has allowed us to use these photonic devices to measure protein kinetic behaviors (dissociation constants). Additionally, complementary Multiphysics finite element modeling of fluid flow and kinetics was performed to explore the mass transport limitations of these devices.

Biography:

Andrea Armani received her BA in physics from the University of Chicago (2001) and her PhD in applied physics with a minor in biology from the California Institute of Technology (2007), where she continued as the Clare Boothe Luce post-doctoral Fellow in biology and chemical engineering. She is currently the Fluor Early Career Chair of Engineering and an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science in the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California.

Prof. Armani is actively involved in several different professional societies and has been on program committees for IEEE and SPIE conferences. In addition, she is currently a topical editor for Optics Letters and routinely serves on review panels for NSF and NIH. She is a member of ACS, AAAS, AIChE, OSA, MRS, and a senior member of both IEEE and SPIE. Prof. Armani has received numerous awards, including the Sigma Xi award for excellence in research (2001), the SPIE BiOS Young Investigator Award (2008), ONR Young Investigator Award (2009), the Technology Review Top 35 Innovators under 35 (2009), the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program New Investigator Award (2010), the USC Mellon Mentoring Award for Undergraduate Mentoring (2010), the NIH New Innovator Award (2010), and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2009).

For further information, contact:
University of Victoria SPIE Student Chapter
Al Balushi.(albalush@uvic.ca)