For her research reported in the article "Microfluidic Generation of Lipidic Mesophases for Membrane Protein Crystallization", Sarah Perry receives and award from the separations division of AIChE.

At the 2009 Annual ChemE Graduate Symposium, Sarah Perry took first place in the oral presentation competition and Fikile Brushett took first place in the poster competition.

Graduate student Sarah Perry receives the Baxter Innovation Award for her research in the area of protein structural elucidation.

Graduate student Fikile Brushett has been named a Drickamer Fellow for 2009-2010 in recognition of his excellence in research.

Chaitanya Gupta has successfully defended his dissertation, "Charge transfer at thin-film modified solid-liquid interfaces in the absence of redox-active moieties", and will officially become Dr. Gupta in October!

A team lead by Sarah Perry designed a device capable of forming 20 nanoliter quantities of lipidic mesophase, a substance used to crystallize membrane proteins. Used in an array, such devices may prove to be a key in overcoming the crystallization bottleneck in determining the structures of these proteins.

A team lead by Benjamin Schudel has created an array of microfluidic wells for the screening of molecular binding events using very small sample quantities. Each 200 picoliter well contains its own biosensor, and incorporates a new type of valve which keeps the well sealed when at rest.

This interdisciplinary project resulted in the creation and validation of genetically encoded biosensor consisting of redox-sensitive polypeptide linkers between a FRET pair of fluorescent proteins. This biosensor allows real-time monitoring of the redox state of live cells for the study, e.g., of cell cycling and disease states.

Matthew Cole has earned his Ph.D. for his work "Metering and Routing of Liquid Quanta in Microfluidic Devices".

For his work on "Microfluidic Platforms for Cell Migration Studies" Jonathan Silvestre has been awarded his Ph.D.

Graduate student Devin Whipple has been awarded the 2008-2010 Grainger Center for Electric Machinery and Electromechanics fellowship.

Graduate student Sarah Perry has been awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for 2008-2010, a predoctoral research fellowship through the NIH.

Sameer Talreja has earned his Ph.D. for his work "An investigation of protein-precipitant phase behavior for globular amd membrane proteins".

The device designed by the team lead by Michael Toepke allows traditional flow-flash experiments to be done on a wider variety of timescales and with greatly reduced sample volume. When applied to the complex, multi-timescale study of protein dynamics it helps to bridge the knowledge gap between structure and function.

A team lead by Seon Kee Yoon performed an extensive study of methods for overcoming the formation of reactant-poor layers near the electrodes of laminar flow fuel cells. Application-specific methods were devised which are capable of improving efficiency and of improving power production by as much as 100%.

A team lead by Christian (no last name) designed microscale hydrogen steam reformers using ceramics which can withstand prolonged use at 800*C. Such reformers can be used for on-site production of H2 from liquid fuels for use in fuel cells, circumventing the need for storage of H2.

A new design by Ranga Jayashree and others takes advantage of diffusion kinetics to improve reaction rate in a laminar flow fuel cell. A gas-permeable electrode is rapidly supplied oxygen from flowing air rather than by an oxidant dissolved in the electrolyte stream, increasing fuel efficiency and power density several fold under optimized conditions.

A collaboration lead by Eric Choban investigated the electrolyte flexibility of membraneless micro fuel cells. Freed from the issue of membrane clogging by carbonate formation, laminar flow fuel cells can be run under alkaline conditions which result in better reaction kinetics (though slow diffusion can cause problems). The fuel and oxidant streams can even be at different pH's. The findings in this study showed that optimum conditions included an alkaline anode stream and acidic cathode stream.

Laminar flow focusing is used to take advantage of localized concentration gradients in order to drive reaction kinetics in the new bioreactor design by Seon Kee Yoon’s team. The reactor was shown to significantly improve cofactor regeneration rate, a key stumbling block in the controlled use of enzymes in manufacturing.

Michael Toepke has developed a new technique for creating tall device features by making use of an effect traditionally avoided in photolithography: diffracted light. Through the combined use of narrow mask features and a higher intensity of light than usually used, device features of varying heights up to 250 microns can be generated in SU-8 with a single exposure step. This approach eliminates the need for expensive and time-consuming machining and etching processes, or the tedious alignment of multiple layers.