Leading a group dedicated to developing integrated microfluidic systems for biomedical applications

* Leading systems engineering efforts at transitioning bench-top experimental setups into stand-alone field portable instruments* Designed and developed handheld Cell Impedance Analyzer for monitoring barrier integrity and cell coverage in microfluidic BBB assays and Pneumatic Primer for automated priming of co-culture assays, supporting SynVivo, LLC (a CFDRC company)* Designed and developed iSCIA - integraged Stem Cell Impedance Analyzer for identification of stem cells based on multi-frequency capacitance measurements* Co-investigator in multiple DoD and NIH funded research efforts in development of advanced technologies for biomedical and biodefense applications including bioaerosol ionization and capture, resin-free high-throughput protein purification, microfluidic blood-brain-barrier assays and high-throughput stem cell sorter

* Established systems integration capability for development of stand-alone, field-portable instruments including CAD modeling (SolidWorks, Google Sketchup), electronic circuit design and PCB layout (Cadsoft Eagle, KiCAD), identification and down selection of COTS components and microprocessors, development of instrumentation firmware, and alpha-testing and performance validation* Developed an electrokinetics-based millifluidic preconcentrator system for spacecraft water monitoring (successfully beta-tested at NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratories) and an impedance-based microbial counter.* Led a $1M DoD funded research project as PI on the development of a multiplexed microfluidics enzymatic chip for impedance-based determination of enzyme kinetic constants. Built hardware for the multiplexed enzymatic chip, including solenoid arrays for pneumatic valving and on-chip peristaltic mixing, relays for multiplexing, control of potentiostat and data acquisition boards, along with software designed using LabView and Python* Co-Investigator on several DoD, NASA and NIH funded biomedical and biodefense research efforts including bioaerosol ionization and capture, resin-free high-throughput protein purification, spacecraft water monitoring, high-throughput stem cell sorter, microfluidic blood-brain-barrier assays, separation of radiation damaged cells * Selected for company-sponsored Dale Carnegie Leadership Training for Managers * Mentored five undergraduate interns through Hudson Alpha’s Biotrain Internship program* Organized a monthly seminar series within Biomedical & Energy Technologies Division for internal dissemination of latest research results and open exchange of ideas. Served as one of the three steering committee members for hosting a monthly companywide seminar series with both internal and external speakers to engage the broader research community in Huntsville

* Won multiple DoD SBIR Phase I awards for development of electrokinetics-based sample preparation technologies for biodefense applications, including dielectrophoresis-based cell sorting and capture, electrokinetic-based reagent-less cell lysis, and active electrokinetic mixing-based nucleic acid extraction* Led experimental activities on development of free solution capillary electrophoresis-based microfluidic high-throughput platform for affinity reagent identification and separation, including designing a custom high voltage power supply and LabView-based user interface and control software* Investigated impedance-based sensors for toxic industrial chemicals and DNA hybridization and detection for biodefense applications* Collaborated in the development of dielectrophoresis-based filter-free pathogen preconcentrator, development of an integrated microfluidic device for forensic analysis, and development of a dielectrophoretic cell sorter for separation of radiation-damaged cells from normal cells

* Led research efforts aimed at the development of a microfluidic dielectrophoresis sorter module for continuous sorting of cells based on their intrinsic dielectric properties (collaboration with CFDRC)

* Investigated the self assembly of gold nanoparticles into microwires using alternating electric fields, including experimental evaluation of the effect of operating parameters (electric field frequency, voltage, solution conductivity, particle concentration) on the assembly process, and utilization of electrostatic simulations for interpreting the assembly process* Identified and characterized a new electrokinetic phenomenon for collection and concentration of particles using electrohydrodynamics on patterned electrode edges (collaboration with RTI International)* Conceived and demonstrated a microfluidic chip system for collection of latex microspheres, yeast cells, microbes, and lamda phage DNA strands using a combination of dielectrophoresis and ac electrohydrodynamics* Collaborated in the development of a liquid-liquid digital microfluidic system-based on dielectrophoretic control of freely-floating liquid droplets on oil