by Office of the Vice President for Research
Join us at noon today (April 8) for a special session of the VPR Research Series as we “Meet MTRI.”
This event will introduce the team at the Michigan Tech Research Institute and explore opportunities for others in our research community to collaborate with them.
by Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences (CLS) chair candidate Kelly Steelman will give a talk from 3 to 4 p.m. Monday (April 12).
In the talk, she will share her administrative philosophy and goals for the department.
by Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
The net virtual graduate Seminar Speaker will be held at 4 p.m. tomorrow (April 8) via Zoom.
Weihua Zhou (CC) will present “Artificial intelligence for medical image analysis: our approaches. “
Zhou, is an assistant professor of applied computing at Michigan Tech. He has been doing research on medical imaging and informatics since 2008. Attend virtually.
View the University Events Calendar, which includes a registration link and additional information about Dr. Zhou and his research.
Dr. Sangyoon Han is an assistant professor in Michigan Tech’s Biomedical Engineering department, and an affiliated assistant professor in the Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics department. He is also advisor to the Korean Students Association. He has been with Michigan Tech since 2017.
Han recently joined the Institute of Computing and Cybersystems and its Data Sciences research group. His primary research interests are in mechanobiology, cell migration, and image data modeling. His research goals include applying computer vision to microscopic images to capture meaningful information, and he’s looking for collaborators.
“Anyone with a good machine learning background is encouraged to contact me to discuss potential research,” he says. “Also, students who learned assignment problems or particle tracking are encouraged to contact me to discuss potential tracking-related projects.”
Teaching and Mentoring
Han’s teaching interests include computer vision for microscopic images, fluid mechanics, cell biomechanics and mechanobiology, and soft tissue mechanics. This academic year, he instructed Computer Vision for Microscopic Images in the Fall semester, and Fluid Mechanics this Spring.
Han enjoys teaching and interacting with students, “and feel their energy, too.” He says he makes a deliberate effort in his classes to pause from time to time so that his students can ask questions.
Han advises two Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. students, Nikhil Mittal and Mohanish Chandurkar.
“Nik is working on finding myosin-independent mechanosensitivity mechanism for stiffness sensing, and Mohanish works on the project finding mechano-transmission for fluid shear stress sensing by endothelial cells,” he says.
Research Aspirations
Han’s Mechanobiology Lab is interested in finding fundamental mechanisms governing mechanotransduction, and how cells sense mechanical forces and convert them into biochemical signals.
“We image cells and associated forces using high-resolution live imaging, which we analyze to obtain statistically meaningful quantity of data,” Han explains. “We apply force-measuring and molecular-imaging/analysis technologies for stiffness sensing, shear flow sensing, adhesion assembly, and cancer mechanobiology.”
Han is working to gain a thorough understanding of the mechano-chemical interaction between cancer cells and their microenvironment, and develop a an effective mechano-therapeutic strategy to stop the progression of cancer, and breast cancer in particular. Ultimately, he wants to apply that knowledge to cancer mechanobiology
Han is principal investigator of a three-year NIH/NIGMS research project, “Nascent Adhesion-Based Mechano-transmission for Extracellular Matrix Stiffness Sensing.” The research aims to determine whether newly-born adhesions can sense tissue stiffness through the accurate measurement of the mechanical force and molecular recruitment of early adhesion proteins.
Some Background
In 2012, Han received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington in the areas of cell mechanics, multiphysics modeling, and bioMEMS.
For his postdoctoral training, he joined the Computational Cell Biology lab led by Dr. Gaudenz Danuser in the Cell Biology department of Harvard Medical School. In 2014, he joined the UT Southwestern (University of Texas) Department of Cell Biology and Bioinformatics. Han received his B.S and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering at Seoul National University, Korea, in 2002 and 2004, respectively.
Han holds several patents and in 2015, he developed an open-source TFM (Traction Force Microscopy) Package, which is shared via his lab’s website: hanlab.biomed.mtu.edu/software.
Beyond Research and Teaching
Han loves science and discovering something new in his research investigations. Beyond his work as a professor and scientist, he describes himself as a husband to Sunny, and a dad to his son, Caleb.
“I am just a normal Korean who likes singing and dancing,” he says. “Unfortunately, my voice is still recovering from surgery, but I hope to get back to it soon. I also like to listen to all kinds of music, including hip-hop, classics, and pop.”
He appreciates a good sense of humor, but he says that being humorous in American English is something he continues to learn.
Han says he tries to be “normal” and not too nerd-like when he’s not pursuing his research, but “there are times when I am making my own hypothesis about some phenomena I observe in my daily life.”
Han enjoys life at Michigan Tech and in the Cooper Country. He likes getting to know his energetic students and he finds Michigan Tech faculty members very strong and collegial. He also enjoys the snow, hockey, and the mountains.
“I really like the snow here. I am already sad that the weather is becoming too mild!” he confirms. “It’s also a safe environment to raise kids, which is a big plus.”
And he likes his academic department. “Everyone is so nice in the Biomedical Engineering program, they have been so welcoming and appreciative my research,” Han says. “It’s a family-like environment.”
Active Research
1R15GM135806-01 (09/16/2019 – 08/31/2022)
Funding Agency: NIH/NIGMS
Nascent Adhesion-Based Mechano-transmission for Extracellular Matrix Stiffness Sensing
Project Goals: To determine whether newly-born
adhesions can sense tissue stiffness by accurate measurement of mechanical
force and of molecular recruitment of early adhesion proteins using traction
force microscopy and computer vision techniques.
Role: Principal Investigator
Additional Information
The Mechanobiology Lab studies mechanobiology, particularly how adherent cells can sense and respond to mechanical stiffness of the extracellular matrix. To investigate this, the lab has established experimental and computational frameworks for force measurement and adhesion dynamics quantification. Researchers apply these frameworks, with cutting edge computer vision technique, on live-cell microscope images to investigate the fundamental mechanism underlying mechanosensation in normal cells, and the biomechanical signature of the diseased cells whose signaling has gone awry.
The Institute of Computing and Cybersystems (ICC) creates and supports an arena in which faculty and students work collaboratively across organizational boundaries in an environment that mirrors contemporary technological innovation. The ICC’s 60+ members, in six research centers, represent more than 20 academic disciplines at Michigan Tech. https://www.mtu.edu/icc/
The ICC Center for Data Sciences (DataS) focuses on the research of data sciences education, algorithms, mathematics, and applications. https://www.mtu.edu/icc/centers/data-sciences/
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency — making important discoveries that improve health and save lives. https://www.nih.gov/
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) supports basic research that increases understanding of biological processes and lays the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. https://www.nigms.nih.gov/
Recent Publications
by Michigan Tech Lode
Join the 2020-2021 staff of the Michigan Tech Lode as we celebrate one hundred years on Michigan Tech’s campus. We would not be here today without alumni, readers, and the support of staff. While we are restricted to Zoom, this allows us to invite many more people.
We will begin the celebration with a history of The Lode, then move on to introductions of the current staff. After this, we would like to hear about your experience with The Lode, fun memories, and any other comments you’d like to share. Those who register will be entered into a raffle to win a Lode hat.
We will be picking two winners. All members of the past and present Michigan Tech community are encouraged to attend, especially any Lode alumni. To register, click here. To view more information, visit our website.
by Van Pelt and Opie Library
National Flash Drive Day occurs on April 5, the day the patent application for flash drives was filed in the U.S. In many years this coincides with National Library Week. To celebrate, the Van Pelt and Opie Library is handing out one free flash drive to the first 150 lucky patrons. Each flash drive contains a file directing users to an interactive patent that explores various parts of a patent document. Check it out for yourself at the library’s Patent & Trademark guide.
National Flash Drive Day is a great opportunity to highlight the “first to file” concept that the United States moved to in 2013. We celebrate this invention on April 5 because this is the day that the patent for the USB flash drive was filed in the United States. Since 2013, a patent’s filing date has been recognized by the USPTO as the date an invention belongs to the inventors. Though this law wasn’t in effect when the patent for the flash drive was filed in 2000, this shines a light on the fascinating complexities of intellectual property (IP) law and the importance of learning its intricacies for entrepreneurs.
If you have IP questions, Michigan Tech’s Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) is a great first stop for finding answers. The Van Pelt and Opie Library is home to the Upper Peninsula’s only PTRC. Each of the 83+ PTRCs in the nation is part of a nationwide network of public, state, and academic libraries designated by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to support the public with trademark and patent assistance.
For more information or to make an appointment, email library@mtu.edu and a representative will assist you remotely.
Special Issue on Fault Tolerance in Cloud/Edge/Fog Computing in Future Internet, an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
https://blogs.mtu.edu/icc/files/2021/04/ali-ebnenasir-call-for-papers-032521-sm.pdf
April 20, 2021
June 10, 2021
mdpi.com/journal/futureinternet/special_issues/FT_CEFC
Including, but not limited to:
The Internet of Things (IoT) has brought a new era of computing that permeates in almost every aspect of our lives. Low-end IoT devices (e.g., smart sensors) are almost everywhere, monitoring and controlling the private and public infrastructure (e.g., home appliances, urban transportation, water management system) of our modern life. Low-end IoT devices communicate enormous amount of data to the cloud computing centers through intermediate devices, a.k.a. edge devices, that benefit from stronger computational resources (e.g., memory, processing power).
To enhance the throughput and resiliency of such a three-tier architecture (i.e., low-end devices, edge devices and the cloud), it is desirable to perform some tasks (e.g., storing shared objects) on edge devices instead of delegating everything to the cloud. Moreover, any sort of failure in this three-tier architecture would undermine the quality of service and the reliability of services provided to the end users.
Theoretical and experimental methods that incorporate fault tolerance in cloud and edge computing, which have the potential to improve the overall robustness of services in three-tier architectures.
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website (https://www.mdpi.com/user/login/). Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form (https://susy.mdpi.com/user/manuscripts/upload/?journal=futureinternet).
Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript.
The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English.
Authors may use MDPI’s English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
eLife, a prestigious journal in cell biology, has published a paper co-written by Sangyoon Han, “Pre-complexation of talin and vinculin without tension is required for efficient nascent adhesion maturation.”
Dr. Han is an assistant professor in the Biomedical Engineering department, and a member of the Data Sciences research group of the Institute of Computing and Cybersystems (ICC).
eLife is a non-profit organization created by funders and led by researchers. Their mission is to accelerate discovery by operating a platform for research communication that encourages and recognizes the most responsible behaviors.
You are invited to spend one-zero-one-zero—that is, ten—minutes with Dr. Jung Yun Bae on Thursday, April 1, from 4:30 to 4:40 p.m. EST.
Dr. Bae is an Assistant Professor in the Applied Computing and Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics departments.
She will discuss her research, the Applied Computing department, and answer questions.
Dr. Bae earned her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University and worked as a research professor at Korea University before she joined Michigan Tech.
Dr. Bae’s research interests include:
We look forward to spending 1010 minutes with you!