Biofabrication for Micro-Nano-Bio-Systems Integration The Institute for Systems Research (ISR) is a permanent, interdisciplinary research institute within the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. Established in 1985, ISR is the oldest graduated National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center (ERC) and has been at the international forefront of interdisciplinary research and education in the system sciences and systems engineering. With nearly 80 full time, part-time and affiliate faculty, ISR research spans across the areas of communication systems and networks, control systems, neuroscience and biology-based technology, micro and nano devices and systems, robotics, supply chain management and model-based systems engineering. As one of the interdisciplinary research groups of ISR, the MEMS Sensors and Actuators Laboratory (MSAL) has been focused on the development of microdevices and microsystem integration technologies. A key thrust area at MSAL is geared toward integrating biomaterials such as chitosan and Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) in performance enhanced microsystems for both biosensing and micro/nanoscale energy applications. Key highlights that will be covered in this presentation include the integration of chitosan in photonic and optomechanical microdevices for bio/chemical sensing and biomolecule separation, the implementation of TMVs as receptors in electrochemical sensors for TNT sensing and the development of TMV-based microelectrodes and microbatteries for high capacity and high energy storage applications. In parallel, microsystem approaches have been applied to characterize complex ecosystems like bacterial biofilms. Our group specifically focuses on developing microscale devices for biofilm research, addressing both in-vitro (bench top biofilm characterization) and in-vivo (clinical biofilm treatment) applications. In-vitro microsystems have been integrated with real-time optical density (OD) monitoring to allow for spatio-temporal monitoring of biofilm growth and treatment within a microfluidic channel. To accomplish reduced biofilm variation, integrated controls and multi-experiment capability, a microfluidic platform that would segment one biofilm into different sections using hydraulic valves was also designed and fabricated. Furthermore, a zinc oxide (ZnO) based surface acoustic wave sensor for the detection of onset of biofilm formation has been developed and integrated with a novel effective biofilm treatment method that is based on a combination of superimposed electric fields with antibiotics. Bio:
Reza Ghodssi is the Herbert Rabin Distinguished Chair in Engineering, Director of the Institute for Systems Research (ISR) and Director of the MEMS Sensors and Actuators Lab (MSAL) in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the ISR at the University of Maryland (UMD). He is also affiliated with the Fischell Department of Bioengineering (BIOE), the Maryland NanoCenter, the University of Maryland Energy Research Center (UMERC), and the Materials Science and Engineering Department (MSE) at UMD. Dr. Ghodssi's research interests are in the design and development of microfabrication technologies and their applications to micro/nano/bio devices and systems for chemical and biological sensing, small-scale energy conversion and harvesting. Dr. Ghodssi was chair of the 9th International Workshop on Micro and Nanotechnology for Power Generation and Energy Conversion Applications (PowerMEMS 2009) and the 2012 NSF Workshop on Micro, Nano, Bio Systems. He also served as the Americas Technical Program Committee chair of IEEE Sensors 2010, 2011 and 2012. He has chaired the committee for the Denice Denton Emerging Leader Award sponsored by the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) and Microsoft since 2007. Dr. Ghodssi has more than 110 scholarly journal publications, is the co-editor of the MEMS Materials and Processes Handbook published in 2011, and is an associate editor for the Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems (JMEMS) and Biomedical Microdevices (BMMD). He has received the 2001 UMD George Corcoran Award, the 2002 National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and the 2003 UMD Outstanding Systems Engineering Faculty Award. Dr. Ghodssi has been selected as a 2014-15 Distinguished Scholar-Teacher by the University of Maryland. |