Biomolecular, Biomaterial, and Interfacial Engineering

Faculty: DaSilva, Earthman, Putnam, Wang

The past two decades of chemical engineering research have witnessed a remarkable paradigm shift from large process units to micro- and nanoscale systems. Mirroring this discipline-wide paradigm shift, research in Biomolecular, Biomaterial, and Interfacial Engineering in the ChEMS department aims is joined by a common need for an improved understanding of a variety of phenomena at the molecular level. Subsequent manipulation of this molecular understanding can then be exploited for a wide range of applications in chemical and biochemical engineering.

Native biological systems have evolved exquisite strategies for molecular engineering, often at the level of molecular genetics. At UC Irvine, advances in the understanding of these native systems are being exploited in recombinant microorganisms to produce and enhance both natural and synthetic compounds with demonstrated therapeutic potential. In a similar fashion, researchers here at UCI are seeking to mimic biological self-assembly at the molecular level in order to design biomaterials with well-defined physico-chemical properties. Such biomaterials possess enormous potential as scaffolds for tissue engineering, depots for drug delivery, and surfaces for biosensors.

Finally, interfacial processes (including specific and non-specific adsorption, interfacial transport, and chemical reactions) also require a detailed understanding of molecular-level events. A poor understanding of these interfacial events often limit the deployment of new engineering technologies ranging from tissue engineering to BioMEMS to polymer-based biosensors. Such limitations can be overcome by the design of surfaces and interfaces with specific molecular characteristics to provide functionality ranging from biocompatibility to selectivity.

 

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