MSE Seminar Series

Friday, April 30, 2021 @11:40am
*Remote course - Zoom link will be provided

Dr. Ardemis A.Boghossian
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015-Lausanne, Switzerland

presents

A NanoBioengineering Frontier for Next-Generation Optical Devices

ABSTRACT:
The vast expansion of available synthetic biology tools has led to explosive developments in the field of materials science. No longer confined to engineering just synthetic materials, the increased accessibility of these tools has pushed the frontier of materials science into the field of engineering biological and even living materials. By coupling the tunability of nanomaterials with the prospect of re-programming living devices, one can re-purpose biology to fulfill needs that are otherwise intractable using traditional engineering approaches. Optical technologies in particular could benefit from capitalizing on untapped potential in coupling the optical properties of nanomaterials with the specificity and scalability of biological materials. This presentation highlights specific applications in optical sensing and light-harvesting energy technologies that exploit the synergistic coupling of nanobio-hybrid materials. We discuss the development of bio-conjugated single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) for near-infrared fluorescence sensing and the application of these nanobioptic sensors for continuous measurements in living cells and organisms. We further explore the development living photovoltaics based on bioengineered, photosynthetic organisms with augmented capabilities.

BIOGRAPHY:
Ardemis Boghossian was a Carls Scholar at the University of Michigan, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.) in Chemical Engineering. She graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as an NDSEG Fellow with a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in Chemical Engineering under the supervision of Michael S. Strano. Her graduate work focused on applied nanotechnology, where she engineered nanoparticles for optical biosensing and lightharvesting energy applications. She pursued her research career as an NIH postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Frances H. Arnold. Working as a protein engineer, she applied methods of directed evolution to engineer cells that can electronically interface with electrodes. Ardemis Boghossian has been appointed Tenure Track Assistant Professor at the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering (ISIC) of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in 2015. At EPFL, Professor Boghossian implements a highly interdisciplinary approach to addressing fundamental challenges and developing novel technologies that exploit the synergy between nanotechnology and synthetic biology. Through her focal points in the fields of optoelectronics and protein engineering, she contributes new biological and biochemical methods for the production of durable hybrid nanomaterials for energy and biosensing applications. She has since received several young investigator awards for her research, including the Roger Taylor Award, the Assistant Professor (AP) Energy Grant, and NanoResearch Young Investigator in NanoEnergy Award. She was also named Frontiers in Chemistry Rising Star and is most recently the recipient of an ERC Starting Grant