UMBC chemical engineering students win ChemE Jeopardy national championship

Road to the finals

Making a name for themselves

Congratulations to Michael Fleming, a recipient of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) - Doctoral Scholars Program (DSP) Dissertation Year Award for 2022-2023. Michael is an environmental engineering doctoral candidate working with Dr. Blaney.

Michael’s doctoral research focuses on the sustainable recovery of ammonium from traditional waste streams, such as municipal wastewater and agricultural waste, by a process called Donnan dialysis.

"We're all very proud of Michael and his accomplishments, including his recognition from SREB with this prestigious award. His work on nutrient treatment and recovery addresses several grand challenges in engineering. This award will support him while he completes his PhD. I'm looking forward to seeing where his next steps take him." - Dr. Lee Blaney.

The SREB-DSP Dissertation Year Award recipients receive 

• a living stipend, 
• all expenses paid to attend the annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring 
• access to professional development funds to further their professional development as a doctoral candidate
• Access to academic support funding
• Participation in our online Scholar Directory 

The UMBC LSAMP 2020-2021 Annual Report highlights involvement in the UMBC LOUIS STOKES ALLIANCE FOR MINORITY PARTICIPATION (LSAMP) program. LSAMP participants have access to individualized advising, campus workshops, funded research experiences, and national and international conferences to strengthen their STEM identity and promote entry into top graduate programs. 

"...sometimes you feel as if you're not making much progress but then you come to understand that your data can be helpful to others. My PI has taught me that my role in the research lab is valuable and that routine observations can lead to progress in an experiment. "

- Excerpt From A Chemical Engineering Major '23 Research Reflection -

FALL 2020 RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (Pg 32 )

Name and Class | Major | Topic | Faculty Mentor | University

Sahaadat Hammed-Owens ‘23 | Chemical Engineering | Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering | Dr. Jennie Leach | UMBC

SUMMER 2021 RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (pg 34)

CLASS OF 2021 GRADUATING FELLOWS AND POST-GRADUATION PLANS (pg 40)

IFPAC has been leading the way in Advanced Manufacturing Science for over 35 years. 

There annual conference 'IFPAC 2022' focusong on Process Analytical Technology and Process Analysis & Control was held June 12-15, 2022 in North Bethesda, MD and attended by more than 400 people. 

Dr. Govind Rao, Center for Advanced Sensor Technology, and Department of Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering, gave a keynote address at the Opening Plenary session on June 13 titled 'Disruptive Innovation in Healthcare: Towards a more Just, Equitable, Diverse and Inclusive World".

Many students presented their research during two poster sessions. UMBC graduate students mentored by CBEE faculty swept the placements for the best student poster presentations. 

1st place: 

•  Shayan Borhani, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, PhD 

2nd place: 

• Md Sadique Hasan, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, PhD 

3rd place winners: 

• Vida Rahmatnejad, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, PhD 
• Vikash Kumar, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, PhD 

Titles and Abstracts from the winning posters

Shayan Borhani - 1st place

Title: Manufacturing therapeutics at the point-of-care using cell-free systems

Abstract

Point-of-care (POC) technologies have brought medical diagnostics and treatments to patients who would otherwise go without medical care. Currently, POC technologies are mainly focused on medical diagnostics such as COVID-19 antigen test kits and little investment has been made to manufacture therapeutics at the POC. Additionally, COVID-19 has highlighted the genuine utility of POC technologies, by displaying the urgency of providing medicines in pandemic hot-spots. For this reason, a distributed manufacturing platform which seeks to produce therapeutics is essential to address future pandemic preparedness. Here, we report the utility of cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) coupled with a POC manufacturing platform (BioMOD), capable of expression and purification of a variety of therapeutics ranging from monoclonal antibodies to insulin. Specifically, CFPS systems have emerged as an ideal methodology at the POC since they provide a rapid, scalable, and versatile platform for synthesizing a wide variety of proteins. Moreover, the capacity for CFPS components to be lyophilized and subsequently hydrated to synthesize novel proteins allows them to be readily stored and shipped to the POC for localized viral outbreaks or other medical needs. With recent advances in microfluidics, these products can then be rapidly purified in continuously automated purification processes, generating a final product within hours. To this end, we have selected the known broad-spectrum antiviral lectin, Griffithsin (GRFT), and recombinant human insulin as ideal candidates to pilot the BioMOD system.

Md Sadique Hasan - 2nd place

Title: Rapid, ultrasensitive and high throughput method and instrumentation for bioburden detection

Abstract

A lengthy culturing procedure is often required to detect bioburden. To increase the rate of detection and decrease the limit of detection (LOD), a multichannel fluorometer has been developed using low-cost electronics and is suited for field applications with microfluidic cassettes. Multiple samples can be tested at the same time with LOD of as low as <1 CFU/mL with 6 hours of incubation. This low-cost system detects and reports the fluorescence signal intensity of an indicator dye in the presence of bacterial contamination. The redox indicator dye resazurin is used which in the presence of viable cells is reduced to resorufin which has a particular emission wavelength and the fluorometer circuitry is configured to pick up the fluorescence emission. We validated the method using primary E. coli culture in comparison with a spectrophotometer which served as the gold standard. The assay was optimized and the impact of incubation and filtration steps on the assay sensitivity was also explored. Data analysis showed that multichannel fluorometers performed similarly to the conventional plate readers. This system is well suited to detect low-level bioburden in the laboratory, pharmaceutical, and field settings due to its portability, low cost, simplicity of operation, and specific assay sensitivity.

Vida Rahmatnejad - 3rd place

Title: Noninvasive Application of Dissolved Carbon Dioxide and Glucose Sensors in Cell Culture

Abstract

Abstract: High levels of CO2 are toxic to cell culture such that it acts as an inhibitory factor affecting cell metabolism. In addition, glucose is the most important supporting factor in rapid proliferation of cells since it is the main nutrient used by the cells. Despite the fact that CO2 and glucose play a major role in cell culture condition, small-scale cell culture studies in academia as well as in industry are currently conducted in single-use vessels which are not equipped with systems monitoring the aforementioned factors. As a result, findings from small-scale cell culture studies are not as useful from an analytical point of view. This fact makes these kinds of experiments less repeatable and reliable. The Center for Advanced Sensor Technology has developed sensors for dissolved carbon dioxide (DCO2) and glucose to monitor the cell culture environment. These sensors are suitable for various kinds of bioreactors because of their low profile. Currently, the CO2 sensor is integrated with the T flask (featuring a sampler mounted outside of the vessel). The evaluation of the noninvasive monitoring system for DCO2 shows promising results. In future work, standard cell culture flasks equipped with sensors for DCO2, and glucose will provide continuous monitoring. Application of these sensors will improve the understanding of the small-scale cell culture microenvironment and provide real-time information on the nutrients and metabolites. The analytical data from monitoring system will be used to interpret the effect of microenvironmental conditions on cell behavior.

Vikash Kumar - 3rd place

Title: High yield flexi flask for next-generation integrative and sustainable bioprocessing

Abstract: Shake flasks cultivation is a routine technique for bioprocess development in both prokaryotic and higher-order eukaryotic cell cultures. The material cost and human capital in the shake flask studies are much less than their bioreactor counterparts. More than 90% of the cell culture activities in both industries and academia are performed in shake flasks. However, oxygen deficiency and carbon dioxide accumulation in high-density cultures have been persistent issues. Both hypoxic conditions and carbon dioxide accumulation have been associated with growth inhibition, metabolic changes, and poor recombinant yield. In this work, we have tried to address this issue by proposing a selectively permeable walled flask called Flexi flask. These flasks are made of a proprietary silicone-based membrane imprinted on a polycarbonate exoskeleton. The membrane is selectively permeable to both Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide. Oxygen permeation allows for an adequate supply of oxygen for the aerobic culture, and carbon dioxide permeation ensures less accumulation of carbon dioxide in the culture system. Mass transfer studies conducted with the Flexi flasks suggested a 100% improvement in KLa over a disposable polycarbonate shake flask. Increased KLa allowed for a 33% improvement in power consumption per unit volume. A 56% increment in cell mass with E. coli and over 40% increment with Pichia Pastoris was observed. Permeable membranes allowed for the non-invasive integration of dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide sensing in the flasks. Further, silicone enables a degree of flexibility to the flask. Unlike polycarbonate, silicone is not toxic to aquatic or soil organisms, it is not hazardous, and while not biodegradable, it can be recycled after a lifetime of use. Apart from benefiting from a higher yield and low power cost in the Flexi flask, the physical and chemical attributes of these flasks are in line with the sustainable goals of the bioprocessing industry.

Photo credit: Dr. Govind Rao. Left to Right - Vikash Kumar, Dr. Govind Rao, Shayan Borhani, Dr. Antonio Moreira, Md Sadique Hasan, Vida Rahmatnejad, Joel Tyson

Dr. Neha Raikar, Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering and Dr. Nilanjan Banerjee, Computer Science, and Electrical Engineering, received an Hrabowski Innovation Fund, Implementation and Research Award for July 2022 - June 2024. 

These "UMBC Innovation Fellows'' will work on the project entitled, "Feasibility of anonymous grading for reducing performance discrepancies across student demographics." They will study a method to reduce implicit bias in grading through the use of an anonymous grading system. Anonymous grading as hypothesized by the PIs will lead to a reduction of implicit bias during grading. It will promote student success and reduce the perception of biased grading amongst students. 

The goal is to better understand and create an environment where grading is fair and students, especially those from underrepresented groups, feel more comfortable and secure while taking courses. This will lead to a system with more equitable instruction and academic outcomes. 

Learn more about the Hrabowski Fund for Innovation at https://calt.umbc.edu/academic-innovation-competition/

NIH awards UMBC $5.6M to continue support of underrepresented graduate students in STEM. Dr. Jennie Leach is a co-PI on the new grant.

~~ excerpt from "NIH awards UMBC $5.6M to support underrepresented graduate students in STEM" ~~

UMBC’s College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences will receive $5.6 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health to fund the Graduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (G-RISE). The program will support graduate students from underrepresented groups in STEM with up to three years of funding and an array of training opportunities. The goal is to help participants select and prepare for a range of career paths, in academia, industry, government, entrepreneurship, or beyond.

G-RISE will replace UMBC’s Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) Meyerhoff Graduate Fellows program, which the NIH also funded. IMSD, under the direction of Michael Summers, Robert E. Meyerhoff Chair for Excellence in Research and Mentoring and Distinguished University Professor, has proven highly successful at supporting students in completing Ph.D. degrees in STEM.