Speakers
- Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at the Pennsylvania State University.
- Main research interest: the fundamental understanding of the thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transformations and mesoscale microstructure evolution in bulk solid and thin films using computer simulations.
- Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Chemical Engineering at NC State University and of Chemistry at UNC.
- Research at the interface of polymer science, medicine, energy, and other advanced technologies areas. Study the underlying mechanisms of diseases including various cancers, and use nanotechnology to engineer better treatments and vaccines. Also focus on exploring new approaches to lithium ion and lithium air batteries, as well as the use of 3D printing to make medical devices.
- Samuel Y. Sheng Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Fu Foundation School of Engineering, Columbia University.
- Pioneer in multifunctional nanoscale technologies for delivering drugs, antigens, proteins, siRNA, and DNA to cells.
- Innovations include biomaterials such as electrospun nanofibers for controlled release and tissue engineering, synthesis of biocompatible and near-infrared-emitting quantum dots, nucleic acid-binding polymers, and microfluidic platforms for nanomedicine. Has also designed nonviral gene delivery mechanisms for hemophilia treatment, genetic immunization, and cellular reprogramming.
- Recent work has focused on directly reprogramming adult cells from one lineage to another without going through the intermediate pluripotent state. Lab is particularly interested in how such approaches, based in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, could offer new strategies for treating neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
- Chief Scientist for Exploration Technology at NASA Ames Research Center.
- Former director of the Center for Nanotechnology at Ames; founding member of the Interagency Working Group on Nanotechnology (IWGN), which was responsible for developing the National Nanotechnology Initiative.
- Research interests include carbon nanotubes, graphene, and various inorganic nanowires, their growth and characterization, and application development in chemical and biosensors, instrumentation, electronics and optoelectronics.
- Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University.
- Research seeks to understand and exploit interesting characteristics of ‘soft’ materials, such as polymers, liquid crystals, and biological tissues as well as hybrid combinations of them with unusual classes of micro/nanomaterials, in the form of ribbons, wires, membranes, tubes or related. Aim is to control and induce novel electronic and photonic responses in these materials, and to develop new ‘soft lithographic’ and biomimetic approaches for patterning them and guiding their growth.
- Current research focuses on soft materials for conformal electronics, nanophotonic structures, microfluidic devices, and microelectromechanical systems, all lately with an emphasis on bio-inspired and bio-integrated technologies.
- Senior Scientist, HRL Laboratories.
- Develops new materials and manufacturing processes for aerospace and automotive applications. Specializes in cellular lightweight materials, high temperature ceramics and alloys as well as functional coatings.
- Recently, has focused on materials development for additive manufacturing, and his team demonstrated the first-ever UV additive manufacturing of polymer-derived ceramics (published in Science 351 p.58 2016).
- Director, Regenerative Medicine Research, Texas Heart Institute.
- Leads international regenerative medicine research efforts, creating cutting edge therapies for chronic disease and “building the future treatments of tomorrow.”
- Has worked in the field of cardiovascular regenerative medicine since its inception and is widely regarded as a major thought-leader in the field. Her mechanistic insights and effective approaches to cardiac repair and replacement are well established and include a number of firsts.
- Director, NIST Center for Theoretical and Computational Materials Science.
- For last few years, focused on the Materials Genome Initiative, a multi-agency initiative designed to facilitate U.S. institutions in the effort to discover, manufacture, and deploy advanced materials twice as fast, at a fraction of the cost.
- Research interests: broadly concerned with developing both models of materials phenomena, and the tools to enable the solution of these models. Specific foci include solidification, pattern formation, grain structures, wetting, diffusion, and spreading in metals.
Organizers
Rice University organizers for this workshop are:
Department Chair of Materials Science and NanoEngineering (MSNE) at Rice University, Co-Director of ATOMIC – the Center for Atomically Thin Multifunctional Coatings
Research interests include synthesis and structure-property relations of nanostructures and nanocomposites, materials science and applications of nanomaterials, energy storage, and phase stability in nanoscale systems. He is one of the pioneers in the field of carbon nanotubes and was involved in the early work on the topic along with the NEC group.
Foyt Family Professor, Department of BioEngineering at Rice University; CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research; PI, Laboratory of Biomolecular Engineering and Nanomedicine
Major focus: the development of gene correction techniques to address longstanding challenges in the fight against cancer and single-gene disorders, such as sickle-cell disease. Bao also develops nanotechnologies for multimodality molecular imaging, the sensitive detection of RNA and proteins, and for targeted drug delivery. Platform technologies include superparamagnetic nanoparticle probes, quantum dot bioconjugates, activatable molecular probes and molecular beacons for cellular and in vivo imaging.
Assistant Professor, MSNE; PI, the Additive Lab @ Rice
The Additive Lab has two complementary research thrusts. The first thrust is to develop metal additive manufacturing techniques for printing parts with complex shapes and precisely-controlled microstructures. The second leverages these techniques to probe structure-property relationships in metals.
Prof. Jun Lou– primary workshop organizer
Associate Department Chair of MSNE, Co-Editor-in-Chief of Materials Today, Rice Site Director of ATOMIC – the Center for Atomically Thin Multifunctional Coatings
Research interests include nanomaterial synthesis, nanomechanical characterization and nanodevice fabrication for energy, environment and biomedical applications. Emphasis includes exploration of the two-dimensional regime.
Assistant Professor, MSNE; PI, Mesoscale Materials Modeling Group
Research focus is two-fold: 1) advance novel mesoscale modeling techniques such as the phase-field method to enable more faithful and efficient simulation of structural or functional materials over ever increasing length and time scales, and 2) combine simulation (relying heavily on parallel computation), theory and experiment to explain and predict the thermodynamic stability and kinetic evolution of mesoscale-level structures under different stimuli (thermal, electrochemical, radiational, etc.), and apply obtained insights to tailor microstructural features for improved performance.
Ernest Dell Butcher Professor of Engineering at Rice University, in MSNE; retired Dean of Engineering at Rice; Member, National Academy of Engineering
Current research focus: high rate deformation of polymers and nanocomposites and direct-write and self-assembly techniques for creating metamaterials with unprecedented mechanical and thermal properties.