Protein from a small, tasty mollusk inspired Michigan Technological University’s Bruce P. Lee to invent a new type of hydrogel actuator.
Hydrogels are soft networks of polymers with high water content, like jello. Because of their soft, gentle texture, they have the potential to interact safely with living tissues and have applications in a number of medical areas, including tissue engineering. Lee, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, wanted to make a hydrogel that wouldn’t just sit there.
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A day-long orgram of special seminars was offered for university people to find the information to protect intellectual property. This free Seminar was for Inventors, Entrepreneurs, Educators and Legal Professionals featuring Speakers from the United States Patent & Trademark Office and Michigan Technological University.
The research of 
Dr. Xuan Liu’s laboratory focuses on developing novel optical imaging and sensing techniques for biomedical applications. One major area of our study is optical coherence tomography (OCT) which provides high resolution cross-sectional images of biological specimen in real-time. OCT has been used to help the diagnosis of various diseases in ophthalmology, cardiology and oncology. Currently, we are developing a manually scanned OCT system with a miniature probe. Moreover, we are also interested in extraction functional information from OCT images to characterize chemical and mechanical properties of biomedical specimens or synthetic biomedical materials.
Dr. Xuan Liu’s laboratory focuses on developing novel optical imaging and sensing techniques for biomedical applications. One major area of our study is optical coherence tomography (OCT) which provides high resolution cross-sectional images of biological specimen in real-time. OCT has been used to help the diagnosis of various diseases in ophthalmology, cardiology and oncology. Currently, we are developing a manually scanned OCT system with a miniature probe. Moreover, we are also interested in extraction functional information from OCT images to characterize chemical and mechanical properties of biomedical specimens or synthetic biomedical materials.Dr. Liu received her B.S. and M.S. degrees from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. She started to study in the Johns Hopkins University since 2007 and received her Ph.D degree in 2011. Before joining the faculty of Michigan Tech, Dr. Liu worked as post-doctoral fellow in the Johns Hopkins University.
The Biotechnology Research Center (BRC) has announced that Keat Ghee Ong, associate professor (Bio Med), has been elected as director. He began his term Monday.
Professor Michael R. Gretz (Biology), who has served as the BRC director since January 2010, stepped down from the position at the beginning of the new academic year. The BRC members thank Gretz for his leadership and service to the BRC, and they welcome Ong as the new director.
The BRC is currently housing approximately 35 projects. Most are funded through major federal agencies, including the Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Agriculture. BRC’s research expenditures average more than $2.3 million annually. For more information on the BRC, visit Biotech
Students in the Research Experience for Undergraduates REU summer 2013 programpresented posters on research projects they have worked on over the summer. The project topics include: measurement of diesel emission particulate matter, experimental hybrid vehicle fuel system, lithium ion battery characterization and SOC measurement, hybrid vehicle dynamometer test stand development, heavy duty truck driving simulation, and measuring temperature variations in combustion vessels.
The news story Student Engineers’ Skin Patch Warns When It’s Time to Get Out of the Sun has received more than 104,000 views and numerous comments since it was posted April 30. Many people are asking when it will come on the market and be availablke in stores. The surge in views began after the story appeared on Reddit, an internet site where registered users share content.
Here is Expo on-the-spot interview video clip about Skin Patch Warns When It’s Time to Get Out of the Sun
More recently AOL News made a video clip New Skin Patch Could Help Prevent Sunburn
When Leslie LaLonde first heard about the RISE internship program, she thought, “I’m all over this.”
She wasted no time in applying to the competitive Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE) program and recently received word of her acceptance for summer 2013. The program offers undergraduate students from the United States, Canada, and Europe the chance to work with researchers at Germany’s top research universities and institutions
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In 2012, more than 3 million people had stents inserted in their coronary arteries. These tiny mesh tubes prop open blood vessels healing from procedures like a balloon angioplasty, which widens arteries blocked by clots or plaque deposits. After about six months, most damaged arteries are healed and stay open on their own. The stent, however, is there for a lifetime.
The 13th annual Undergraduate Expo was held on Thursday, April 18, 2013 in the J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library.
The winners of the Michigan Tech Undergraduate Expo Awards have been posted. Congratulations to all the winners.
The Undergraduate Expo highlights hands-on, discovery-based learning at Michigan Tech. Nearly one thousand students in Enterprise and Senior Design teams showcase their work and compete for awards. A panel of judges, made up of corporate representatives and Michigan Tech staff and faculty members, critique the projects. Many of them are sponsored by industry, which allows students to gain valuable experience through competition at the Expo, as well as direct exposure to real industrial problems. The Expo is a combined effort of the College of Engineering and the Institute for Leadership and Innovation.
Biotechnology Research Center Student Research Forum Winners Announced
The Ecosystem Science Center and the Biotechnology Research Center announced award recipients of the Ninth Annual ESC/BRC Student Research Forum, held March 27. Posters will continue to be on display in the atrium of the Forestry building through April 12.
Undergraduate Research:
$150 Grand Prizes Award: Biotechnology Research Center: Morgan Owen-Cruise (BE) for, “Synthesis and Characterization of Dopamine and Nitrodopamine Modified Poly(ethylene glycol),” Advisor: Bruce Lee
Undergrad Merit Award: Keegan Yates (BE) for, ” Divalent Ion Removal Improves Stability and Mechanical Properties of Gelatin Hydrogel,” Advisors: Megan Frost and Feng Zhao