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BKLT SSoE FacRsrch 022219 FNLHQ PDF
BKLT SSoE FacRsrch 022219 FNLHQ PDF
SUMMARY OF
FACULTY
RESEARCH
2019
Swanson School of Engineering, Summary of Faculty Research 2019
On behalf of the Swanson School of Engineering (SSoE) and U.S. Steel Dean of
Engineering James R. Martin II, we are proud to present the newest edition of the
SSoE Summary of Faculty Research Booklet. Within the contents of the booklet are
highlights and descriptions of the research conducted in individual faculty research
laboratories as well as some of the SSoE-based centers and institutes. Research
capabilities and expertise from faculty within each of SSoE’s six departments are
represented. These summaries are written for the “scientific lay person,” and much
more information on any specific faculty member or center/institute can be found
on the SSoE website at engineering.pitt.edu. Contact information is provided to
encourage collaboration, and we invite you to contact any faculty of potential
interest to discuss possibilities.
Sincerely,
Bioengineering
Steven Abramowitch, PhD 8 Takashi “TK” Kozai, PhD 25
Aaron Batista, PhD 9 Mangesh Kulkarni, PhD 26
Kurt E. Beschorner, PhD 10 Prashant N. Kumta, PhD 27
Harvey Borovetz, PhD 11 Patrick J. Loughlin, PhD 28
Bryan N. Brown, PhD 12 Spandan Maiti, PhD 29
Rakié Cham, PhD 13 Mark Redfern, PhD 30
April Chambers, PhD 14 Partha Roy, PhD 31
Tracy Cui, PhD 15 Warren C. Ruder, PhD 32
Moni Kanchan Datta, PhD 16 Joseph Thomas Samosky, PhD 33
Lance A. Davidson, PhD 17 Sanjeev G. Shroff, PhD 34
Richard E. Debski, PhD 18 George Stetten, MD, PhD 35
William Federspiel, PhD 19 Gelsy Torres-Oviedo, PhD 36
Neeraj J. Gandhi, PhD 20 Jonathan Vande Geest, PhD 37
Mark Gartner, PhD 21 David A. Vorp, PhD 38
Alan D. Hirschman, PhD 22 Doug Weber, PhD 39
Tamer S. Ibrahim, PhD 23 Justin S. Weinbaum, PhD 40
Bistra Iordanova, PhD 24 Ioannis Zervantonakis, PhD 41
Industrial Engineering
Mostafa Bedewy, PhD 96 Jeffrey P. Kharoufeh, PhD 103
Mary Besterfield-Sacre, PhD 97 Paul W. Leu, PhD 104
Karen M. Bursic, PhD 98 K. Louis Luangkesorn, PhD 105
Youngjae Chun, PhD 99 Lisa M. Maillart, PhD 106
Renee M. Clark, PhD 100 Jayant Rajgopal, PhD 107
Joel M. Haight, PhD, P.E., CIH, CSP 101 M. Ravi Shankar, PhD 108
Daniel R. Jiang, PhD 102 David T. Sturrock 109
Research Laboratories
Office of Economic Partnerships 134 McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine 146
Biomedical Computing Laboratory 135 NSF Center for Space, High-performance,
Center for Energy 136 and Resilient Computing (SHREC) 147
Center for Faculty Excellence 137 National Science Foundation (NSF)
Engineering Research Center (ERC) on
Center for Medical Innovation 138
Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials (RMB) 148
Coulter Translational Research
Orthopaedic Robotics Laboratory 149
Partners II Program 139
Gertrude E. and John M. Petersen Institute
Electric Power Systems Laboratory 140
of NanoScience and Engineering (PINSE)
Engineering Education Research Center 141 Nanoscale Fabrication and Characterization
Human Factors Engineering Laboratory 142 Facility (NFCF) 150
Human Movement and Balance Laboratory 143 RFID Center of Excellence 151
Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation 144 Watkins Haggart Structural
Materials Micro-Characterization Engineering Laboratory 152
Laboratory (MMCL) 145
D E PA R T M E N T O F
BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
Steven Abramowitch, PhD 409 Center for Bioengineering | 300 Technology Drive | Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Associate Professor, Musculoskeletal Research Center P: 412-383-9618 C: 412-648-2001
Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics,
sdast9@pitt.edu
Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences
8 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
at requires continuous
302 Benedum Hall | 3700 sensory-driven motor
O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, interaction with a simplified
PA 15261
Aaron Batista, PhD
he taskP:can be scaled
412-383-5394 in the future to embody more complex interactions. Associate Professor
redictions about neural responses in sensory and motor areas of the
aaron.batista@pitt.edu
rt to integrate sensory information for the control of ongoing movements.
https://smile.pitt.edu
e combine multielectrode neurophysiology with quantitative analysis of RESEARCH LETTER
organized to inform a computational model of sensory-motor interaction
Sensory-Motor Integration Laboratory and Engineering
a Neural activity
Dr. Aaron Batista’s research group examines the neural control of visually-guided action. BCI N
We seek to understand basic principles that underlie the function of the cerebral cortex, mapping
Units
ur research is those
and to use the discoveries
Critical Stability Task
to improve the (CST),
function wherein
of clinical subjects
brain-computer must
interface
vision (BCI)
and/or tactile) in order to make corrective actions to maintain
systems as a treatment for paralysis. Here we describe two of the research a Time
puter display
endeavorsfor several
taking seconds.
place within Corrective actions to move the cursor
the laboratory. I
d movements, or via BCI control. The CST was originally formulated [31]
Neural constraints on learning
ynamics governed by the differential equation,
!" ! Why are some new skills learned relatively quickly, while others take far longer? What
!"
=changes
! ! ! in+
the!brain
! ,!!!!!! > 0,!!!!
when we learn, ≥ that pre-existing abilities are retained even as(1)
so 0
we learn(with
f the cursor x>0 We
new skills? are examiningthe
representing the neural
cursor underpinnings
to the right of learning using a !novel
of center), !
generated by the subject, and t=0 indicates the start of the trial. The
paradigm, brain-computer interface control, which allows us to study the neural basis of
learning more directly
of the parameter, than is possible
!. Because with arm movements.
! is positive, the cursorWepositioncan directly willrequest of
diverge b Unit 1
Unit 1 FR
V, the to learn effective
more (a day or so),isandthewhich will be more
subject’s difficult (a week
sensorimotor or two), just by examining
control. 2
the pre-existing patterns of neural activity prior to learning. 3
e investigation of motor control that requires sensory feedback, consider
d to keep This work
the iscursor
pursuedfrom
along with colleagues
drifting, i.e., Byron
whatYuisand!(!)StevesuchChasethatof Carnegie Mellon
the cursor 1 Un
it 2
FR
University.
ion (!"(!) !" = It is0)
currently supported
into Eq. by an NIHthat
(1) shows R01 grant
the from
subjectthe National
must Institute
generate of a
Child Health and Human Development.
ual and opposite to the current cursor position: ! ! = −!(!). Thus, Dimensi
st know the state of the cursor. A subject who could issue this perfect Excitatory Inhibitory
Neural a
Intrinsic
00% accurate) would be able to keep the cursor completely still. Kinemat
and is Multisensory
not possibleIntegration
becauseinofActionsensorimotor noise and nervous system c Outside-manifold d
will continuously
Our actions aremove,
shaped by and
our maintaining
perceptual control – keeping
we see, hear, and feel the it thing
fromwith rapidly
which
perturbation control space
the brain uses sensory information to
Cursor veloc
going experience.
sensory-guided motor action
Consider the fine adjustments (Fig. 1). With adequate
we are interacting, and our movements sensory guide action, we train animals Intuitiveto perform
ommand signalmakesthat tokeeps
play thethe cursor
pitch. centered about an equilibrium
to achieve ourpoint
Unit 1 FR
Unit 1 FR
a violinist correct are adjusted on-the-fly challenging balancing tasks in a virtual
control space
subject’s CIV. A subject’s CIV
Sensory experience is often multimodal: captures important aspects
objectives. We seek to understand ofhowtheir environment. We record from motor and
Within-manifold
peed and accuracy with which he or she can react to sensory input. The perturbation control space
sensory areas, in the hope of discovering
ective Un
how the it 2 areas communicate to send Un
it 2
FR FR FR
e CIV U n i t 3
detailed sensory information to sculpt
s an the activity of motor neurons.
Figure 1 | Using a brain–computer interface to study
ure of moved the BCI cursor (blue circle) to acquire targets (g
everal This work is pursued along with my Pitt
modulating their neural activity. The BCI mapping cons
pe of Bioengineering colleague
the population neural PattoLoughlin.
activity the intrinsic manifold
our Itthen
is supported by an NIH
from the intrinsic R01 grant
manifold from kinematics u
to cursor
ThisNational
the two-stepInstitute
procedureofallowed us to perform
Child Health and outside-m
ensory (blue arrows) and within-manifold perturbations (red ar
), the Human Development.
b, A simplified, conceptual illustration using three electr
nts or Fig. 1. Two CST trials. 1st row:
(FR) observed on each electrode in a brief epoch define
in the neural space. The intrinsic manifold (yellow plan
d the (schematic of) visual [left] and prominent patterns of co-modulation. Neural activity m
d less (spectrogram of) vibrotactile [right]
nd
space (black line) to specify cursor velocity. c, Control s
motor feedback. 2 row: cursor and hand mapping (black arrow), within-manifold perturbation (re
position traces. Bottom left: raster of manifold perturbation (blue arrow). d, Neural 9 activity (
faster DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING multichannel neural activity from M1. different cursor velocities (open circles and inset) under
ity or Arrow colours as in c.
stablish the CIV for each animal under each of the configurations of
BIOENGINEERING
Kurt E. Beschorner, PhD 402 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Associate Professor, Human Movement and Balance Lab P: 412-624-7577
beschorn@pitt.edu
Research Mission: Dr. Beschorner’s environmental factors that contribute to Background: Dr. Beschorner received
research focuses on the development of falls from ladders and develop strategies his BS in Mechanical Engineering from
ergonomic solutions for preventing to reduce these falls; and 3) assessing the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
falling accidents through the utilization of negative effects of multifocal lens glasses and his PhD in Bioengineering from
core competencies in biomechanics and (bifocals/progressive lens glasses) on University of Pittsburgh. He also spent
tribology. Dr. Beschorner’s current research walking balance and identifying solutions four years as an Assistant Professor of
topics include 1) developing and applying that improve balance in this population. Industrial Engineering at the University
innovative methods to model and assess Dr. Beschorner’s research has been funded of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where he
the tribological interaction between shoe by the National Institute of Occupational founded and directed the Gait Analysis &
and floor surfaces in order to prevent slips Safety and Health, Department of Labor Biodynamics Lab and the Human
and falls; 2) identify the personal and and the National Institutes of Health. Tribology Lab.
10 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 11
BIOENGINEERING
Bryan N. Brown, PhD P: 412-624-5273
Assistant Professor brownb@upmc.edu
Brown Laboratory
The Brown Laboratory is an interdisciplinary team housed within the McGowan Institute
for Regenerative Medicine. The overarching mission of the Brown Laboratory is to couple
a mechanistic understanding of the host inflammatory response in injury and disease
with the development of context-dependent biomaterial-based strategies for tissue
engineering and regenerative medicine. The focus of our current research is upon clinical
applications where few effective solutions currently exist, with increasing emphasis upon
unmet clinical needs in women’s health.
Our laboratory is highly collaborative within the University of Pittsburgh, the University
of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine as well
as a number of outside collaborations spanning basic science, engineering, medical and
veterinary disciplines. Most of the ongoing projects within the Brown Laboratory combine
basic science and immunology with engineering concepts towards the design, evaluation,
and implementation of biomaterials in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
applications.
Under the direction of Dr. Bryan Brown consists of approximately eight undergraduate
students, six graduate students, two postdoctoral associates, a laboratory technician, and
administrative staff. In addition, it is common to have one or more clinician-surgeons or
veterinarian involved with each ongoing project. The capabilities of the Brown Laboratory
span a full spectrum of bench-top science and pre-clinical models and we can support
first-in-human and clinical studies through collaborations with the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center.
12 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 13
BIOENGINEERING
April Chambers, PhD 302 Schenley Place | 4420 Bayard Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Research Assistant Professor P: 412-624-9898
Laboratory Director, Human Movement and Balance Laboratory
ajcst49@pitt.edu
14 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
Research Description
Research projects are being conducted in the following areas: (1) Neural Electrode
Device / Tissue Interface – Implantable neural electrode arrays elicit inflammatory
tissue responses that lead to performance failure. We study the interaction between
implanted material and neural tissue and develop multifunctional smart biomaterial to
improve the electrode/host tissue interface. Approaches include biomimetic coating,
controlled release of soluble drug and growth factors and stem cell seeding. (2) Control of
Embryonic and Neural Stem Cell Growth and Differentiation via Surface Characteristics
and Electrical Stimulation - Majority of the stem cell studies focus on the effect of soluble
factors on stem cell behavior. We are interested in whether surface cues and electrical
stimulation can guide the growth and differentiation of stem cells. The findings will
provide design ideas for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine on how to direct
the stem cell fate for functional integration into the host nervous system. (3) Cultured
Neuronal Networks – An in vitro multi-electrode array system is established in the lab
to answer neuroscience questions on how neuronal networks communicate or mature.
Furthermore, we can build in vitro disease or injury models and use the model to screen
therapeutic agents. (4) Neural Chemical Delivery and Sensing. Instead of establishing an
electrical interface with host neurons, we are developing micro and nanotechnologies to
chemically interface with them via delivery of neurotransmitters and modulators as well
as detecting endogenous neurochemicals. These will be great tools for neuroscience
research and can potentially be used as neuroprostheses alone or in conjunction with
electrical neural interfacing devices.
By surface immobilization of biomolecules on the implant we seek to control the cellular
interaction and promote intimate integration of the implant and neural tissue with the
ultimate goal of reliable and stable long term neural recording or stimulation.
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 15
BIOENGINEERING
Moni Kanchan Datta, PhD 819 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Research Assistant Professor P: 412-624-9729 412-624-9751
mkd16@pitt.edu
16 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
Mechanics of Morphogenesis
Our group has two long-term objectives: Morphogenesis is the central process function. By necessity our research lies
(1) to understand the mechanical of tissue self-assembly that couples at the interface between cell biology,
processes that control morphogenesis, physical processes that move cells and mathematics, physics, and engineering.
and (2) to apply principles of tissues with the biological processes Projects typicaly involve overlapping
morphogenesis as a technology to that give cells their identity, establish expertise that combine cell biological,
advance cell and tissue engineering. tissue architecture and physiological biophysical, and bioengineering methods.
The Biomechanics of Tissue Elongation Cardiac Progenitors Sense Mechanical Cues as they
The elongation of the vertebrate body, from head to tail, during Assemble the Heart
early development and the elongation of structures such as long The heart is assembled from cells that migrate halfway across the
bones during growth are driven by collective cell rearrangement early embryo. As these cells migrate they take instruction from
of mesenchymal cells. Our research has uncovered hidden their surroundings, either through chemical signaling or through
mechanical phenotypes where losses in force production can be mechanical cues. These cues drive cells to transition from one
compensated by reduced mechanical resistance. Genetic and type to another. Recently, we have found a fundamental transi-
cell signaling control actomyosin complexes responsible for the tion, that converts cells from a loose mass to a structured sheet,
mechanics of early embryonic tissues but their spatial organization requires cells sense their mechanical environment. An altered
is regulated by cell geometry and architectural features of the environment, leading to delayed or precocious transitions during
embryo. Our studies in this area require development of micro- these early stages, produce commonly seen structural defects
scale mechanical testing, high resolution confocal imaging, and analogous to those seen in human congenital heart defects.
theoretical and computational modeling. Discoveries from this
project have provided novel insights into integration of genetic
and mechanical programs of development and how these systems
are robust against the variation in their environment.
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 17
BIOENGINEERING
Richard E. Debski, PhD 408 Center for Bioengineering | 300 Technology Drive | Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Professor, Bioengineering P: 412-648-1638 C: 412-383-8788
Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery
genesis1@pitt.edu
Co-Director, Orthopaedic Robotics Laboratory
William Kepler Whiteford Faculty Fellow
18 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
Under the direction of Dr. William Federspiel, the Medical reactions. Biotransport modeling, computational fluid dynamics,
Devices Laboratory is developing highly translatable medical and in vitro and in vivo testing are employed in the development
devices by utilizing bio and chemical engineering principles such of these medical devices. The highly collaborative research
as biotransport, mass transfer, and fluid mechanics. Advanced efforts of the Medical Devices Laboratory combine the expertise
respiratory assist devices for patients with acute and chronic and strengths of academic researchers, clinicians, and industrial
lung injuries are being designed and investigated, in addition partners. Translation of research into formal product development
to particle-based adsorption technologies for the removal of and clinical trials is a primary focus of the laboratory so that the
targeted solutes from whole blood for the treatment of pathogenic technological advancements can benefit those in need.
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 19
BIOENGINEERING
Neeraj J. Gandhi, PhD 404 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Associate Professor P: 412-647-3076
neg8@pitt.edu
www.pitt.edu/~neg8/
The nervous system continuously monitors of sensory-to-motor transformations, motoric processes that produce integrated
the environment and produces overt or including cognitive processes. We orienting behavior has implications for
covert orienting behavior in response to employ a combination of experimental neural prostheses as well as diagnostic
relevant sensory stimulation. Research (extracellular recording, microstimulation, value for deficits resulting from
in the Cognition and Sensorimotor chemical microinjections, transient blink neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g., ADHD,
Integration (CSI) lab investigates neural perturbation) and computational tools. schizophrenia) and ocular dysmotility
mechanisms involved in the multiple facets An understanding of the cognitive and (e.g., strabismus).
20 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
Conservation Engineering
Dr. Gartner’s laboratory activities include development include an institutional worked on a range of conservation and
the development of novel tools to address tracking system for green sea turtle education efforts with the Pittsburgh
unmet needs in wildlife conservation and rehabilitation, the development of a Zoo and PPG Aquarium including recently
leverages bioengineering and mechatronic low-cost manatee tracking device, and harvesting coral from the Navy’s Mole
principles as the basis for a spectrum a system to allow physical examination Pier in Key West, Florida.
of devices and tools. Tools currently in of conscious polar bears. Dr. Gartner has
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 21
BIOENGINEERING
Alan D. Hirschman, PhD 325 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Professor of Bioengineering P: 412-624-1177 C: 412-996-9773
Executive Director, Center for Medical Innovation
Alh138@pitt.edu
www.engineering.pitt.edu/cmi
Resesarch Interests
Dr. Hirschman’s primary interest is in the As Executive Director of the Center for
application of technology to translational Medical Innovation at the Swanson School
medicine and medical product innovation. of Engineering since 2011, Dr. Hirschman
He has been instrumental in the develop- is responsible for tactical and strategic
ment of a Professional Master of Science direction. His work is focused on matching
in Bioengineering oriented toward Medical physicians with engineers and students
Product Engineering. This work also recently in SSOE to create funded project
resulted in the Provost’s approval of a teams focused on the advancement
Professional Certificate in Medical Product of technologies into clinical practice.
Innovation offered through the Swanson Also, as a former executive at Bayer
School of Engineering. He has developed (MEDRAD® division), Dr. Hirschman is
several courses (Medical Product Ideation, interested in bringing best industry
Medical Product Development) to help practices to the new innovation and
train future product developers, managers, entrepreneurship efforts underway
entrepreneurs, and investors in the medical at the University of Pittsburgh.
product domain.
Biographical Highlights
Dr. Hirschman came to the University of Pittsburgh in 2010 as a visiting professor in the
Department of Bioengineering. In 2013 he received a full appointment as Professor of
Bioengineering. Most of his career (30+ years) was in the medical device industry as an
inventor, biomedical product development engineer, business development professional
and corporate executive. Earlier in his career he worked as a research physicist and
electrical/computer engineer. Dr. Hirschman earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering
from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor’s in Physics from New York University.
He is a Fellow of AIMBE and a Life Member of the IEEE.
22 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
Introduction Results
Recently FDA-approved 7 Tesla (T) MRI Image comparison with the 32-channel NOVA commercial RF coil Table 1: 7T MRI studies conducted at the RF Research Facility at University of Pittsburgh
can provide improved signal-to-noise ratio, TTT coil NOVA coil TTT coil NOVA coil
a) b) c) d)
resolution, and image contrast when compared
with standard clinical MRI scanners (usually
1.5T or 3T). However, proton imaging at
higher frequencies (~300MHz) and shorter
wavelength (~13cm in brain tissues) can lead to Fig. 3: In a), Turbo spin echo (TSE) sequence using the TTT coil with resolution of 0.4x0.4x2mm. In b), the
same TSE sequence acquired with the commercial NOVA coil. In c), FLAIR sequence acquired with TTT coil
inhomogeneities in the images and potentially with resolution of 0.7x0.7x2mm. In d), the same FLAIR sequence acquired with NOVA coil. The arrows point
to regions of dark spots in the NOVA coil images and compare with similar regions on the TTT coil images [1].
cause high localized radiofrequency (RF) power High-resolution susceptibility weighted images showing cortical microvessels
deposition in the tissue. The Tic-Tac-Toe (TTT) RF a) White matter legions (circle): Stroke (circle): sickle cell
b) Multiple Sclerosis study
coil system provides improved homogeneity and c) disease study
Fig. 1: in a), the implemented 16-channel TTT transmit RF coil; in b), the computational modeling of the
RF coil; in c), the implemented RF coil with an 32-channel receive insert Lacunar infarct White matter hyperintensities (arrows): Healthy
(arrow): depression Brain aging study (left) and Small Vessels disease
b study in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease study (right)
)
B1+ maps in the brain: TTT vs NOVA RF coils max
b) Resting
Resting state
state MRI:MRI: activation
activation in the
in the default
default modenetwork
network
Simulated
Tic-Tac-Toe
Measured
Tic-Tac-Toe Fig. 7: In a), post-processed finger tapping task acquired at 1.5mm iso, TR = 2.5 seconds, 3 min
total acquisition time. In b), post-processed resting stated functional MRI, acquired at 2mm
isotropic, TR = 1s,
Measured 6 min total acquisition time. Fig. 9: Sample of some studies listed in Table 1 using the developed 16-channel TTT RF array (Fig. 1a).
Nova coil There are 4 completed studies and 13 ongoing patient studies with approximated 2,000 patients scheduled.
Fig. 6: In a), post-processed finger tapping task acquired at 1.5mm isotropic resolution, TR = 2.5 seconds,
3 min total acquisition time, 1 subject. In b), post-processed resting state functional MRI, acquired at 2mm
Regions with low B1+ intesity can produce isotropic resolution, TR = 1s, 8 min total acquisition time, 1 subject.
voids or low-constrast in the images
0
Future Directions
Fig. 2: The B1 (magnetic field responsible for spin excitation) field homogeneity is highly degraded
+
at 7T MRI due to a higher operational frequency (~297MHz). The TTT presents a more homogeneous Diffusion MRI and fiber tracking Post-mortem
field distribution when compared with the NOVA coil (a commercial coil) [1].
a) a) FUTURE DIRECTIONS
64-channel Tic-Tac-Toe RF transmit coil for 7T MRI max
a) b) c) 8 kW power amplifier:
b)
16 kW power amplifier:
Fig. 7: In a), an structural MPRAGE image Fig. 8: In a), susceptibility weighted images Fig. 10: In a), the 64-channel transmit coil computational modeling [2]. To improve the field of view of 0
acquired at 0.75mm isotropic (skull removed acquired at 0.35mm isotropic, 32 min acquisition the projector/monitor in fMRI studies, the frontal panels can be removed, resulting in a 56-channel coil.
using FSL package). In b), fiber tracking based on time, in a post-mortem brain fixated with In b), one assembled side of the coil. In c), simulated B1+ field distribution: for an 8kW power amplifier
DTI acquisition, 64 directions, 1.5mm isotropic formalin. In b), a photograph of similar slice in the capabilities (default in older 7T MRI scanners) a homogeneity (measured by the coefficient of variation -
resolution. The colors are defined for different same brain. CV) of 15.2% is achieved in the brain. For an 16 kW power amplifier (available for the recently FDA
orientations of the fibers. approved Siemens 7T MAGNETOM Terra), an CV of 10.6% can be achieved in the brain.
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 23
BIOENGINEERING
Bistra Iordanova, PhD 209 CNBIO | 300 Technology Drive | Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Research Assistant Professor bei3@pitt.edu
Metalloprotein-based MRI
We combine molecular engineering and MRI to modulate contrast in brain cells via
the expression of novel iron-binding, paramagnetic metalloproteins in the ferritin
family. Following transgene expression, the ferritin shells sequester physiologically
available iron, and biomineralization of the ferritin core renders the complex
paramagnetic, producing MRI contrast. By combining an MRI reporter with a cell-
specific expression, a multitude of applications exist. For example, we can track
cell migration after neurogenesis. More recently, we have employed the same MRI
approaches optimized for iron imaging to evaluate iron accumulation in models of
Alzheimer’s disease.
24 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 25
BIOENGINEERING
Mangesh Kulkarni, PhD BSPII, Suite 300 | 450 Technology Drive | Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Research Assistant Professor P: 443-616-5495
kulkarnim2@upmc.edu
Research Interests
• Tissue Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine
• Development of Biomaterials-based Delivery Systems
• Molecular Diagnostics and Therapeutics, particularly involving
Non-coding RNA
• Cell-free Therapeutic Strategies such as Stem Cells Secretome Therapy
• Innate Immunity and Host Response to Biomaterials
26 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 27
BIOENGINEERING
Patrick J. Loughlin, PhD 302 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Professor and Associate Chair P: 412-624-9685
loughlin@pitt.edu
Fig. 3: Subject performance in a control task with vibrotactile feedback [Quick 2014].
Fig. 2: Frequency tracking of a noisy quasi-periodic signal.
Selected Publications
• Quick et al., Assessing vibrotactile feedback • Loughlin et al., Spectral characteristics of visually
Principal Investigator strategies by controlling a cursor with unstable induced postural sway in healthy elderly and healthy
dynamics, IEEE EMBC, 2014. young subjects, IEEE Trans. Neural Sys. and Rehab.
Brief Biography Engrng., 2001
• Cenciarini et al., Stiffness and damping in postural
Patrick Loughlin earned a PhD in control increase with age, IEEE Trans. Biomed. • Loughlin, Spectrographic measurement of
electrical engineering from the Engrng., 2011 instantaneous frequency and the time-dependent
• O’Connor et al., Postural adaptations to repeated weighted average instantaneous frequency,
University of Washington, an MS in J. Acoust. Soc. Amer., 1999
optic flow stimulation in older adults, Gait &
bioengineering from the University posture, 2008 • Loughlin et al., Time-varying characteristics of
of Utah, and a BS in biomedical • Mahboobin et al., A model-based approach to visually induced postural sway, IEEE Trans.
engineering from Boston University. attention and sensory integration in postural control Rehab. Engrng., 1996
of older adults, Neuroscience letters, 2007 • Loughlin et al., On the amplitude- and frequency-
He has been a faculty member at
• Loughlin et al., A Wigner approximation method modulation decomposition of signals, J. Acoust.
Pitt since 1993. Dr. Loughlin is a for wave propagation, J. Acoust. Soc. Amer., 2005 Soc. Amer., 1996
Member of the Editorial Board for • Mahboobin et al., Sensory re-weighting in human • Loughlin et al., Construction of positive time-
the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical postural control during moving-scene perturbations, frequency distributions, IEEE Trans. Signal
Engineering, and a Fellow of AIMBE, Exp. Brain Research, 2005 Process, 1994
• Peterka et al., Dynamic regulation of sensorimotor
ASA and IEEE.
integration in human postural control, J. Neurophys.,
2004
28 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
spm54@pitt.edu
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 29
BIOENGINEERING
Mark Redfern, PhD 123 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261
William Kepler Whiteford Professor P: 412-624-5688
mredfern@pitt.edu
30 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 31
BIOENGINEERING
Warren C. Ruder, PhD 210 Center for Biotechnology | 300 Technology Drive | Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Assistant Professor P: 412-383-9744
warrenr@pitt.edu
www.warrenruder.com/
Biographical Highlights
Dr. Warren Ruder moved his research group to the University of Pittsburgh’s
Bioengineering department in January of 2017. Previously, he spent four and half years
as an assistant professor in Virginia Tech’s Biological Systems Engineering department,
where he led the Engineered Living Systems Laboratory. His expertise is in synthetic
biology, cellular and molecular biomechanics, and lab-on-a-chip systems. Dr. Ruder
received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering and his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering
from Carnegie Mellon University, and his B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering
from MIT. From 2003-2005, he was a Health Science Specialist at the Veterans Affairs
Boston Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School. From 2005-2009, Dr. Ruder
was an inaugural NIH trainee in the Pitt-CMU Biomechanics in Regenerative Medicine
program and a Dowd graduate fellow in the groups of Phil LeDuc and Jim Antaki. From
2010-2012, he was a postdoctoral research associate in the group of Jim Collins at
Boston University (now at MIT), and Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically
Inspired Engineering.
32 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
jts35@pitt.edu
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 33
BIOENGINEERING
Sanjeev G. Shroff, PhD 302 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Chair P: 412-624-2095
Distinguished Professor of and McGinnis Chair in Bioengineering
sshroff@pitt.edu
Professor of Medicine
1. MacGowan G, et al. Cardiovasc Res. 63:245-255, 2004. 5. Conrad KP, Shroff SG. Curr Hypertens Rep. 13:409-420, 2011.
2. Kirk JA, et al. Circ Res. 105:1232-1239, 2009. 6. Novak J, et al. FASEB J. 20:2352-2362, 2006.
3. Gupta MP, et al. J Biol Chem. 283 (15):10135-10146, 2008. 7. Parikh A, et al. Circ Res. 113:313-321, 2013.
4. Samant SA, et al. J Biol Chem. 290:15559-15569, 2015.
34 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
stetten@pitt.edu
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 35
BIOENGINEERING
Gelsy Torres-Oviedo, PhD 406 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh PA 15213
Assistant Professor P. 412-624-2660
Co-director, Human Movement Research Laboratory
gelsyto@pitt.edu
jpv20@pitt.edu
http://www.engineering.pitt.edu/stbl/
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 37
BIOENGINEERING
David A. Vorp, PhD 123 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Associate Dean for Research P: 412-624-5317
Professor of Bioengineering, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Surgery,
vorp@pitt.edu
and the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute
www.engineering.pitt.edu/VorpLab/
Director, Vascular Bioengineering Laboratory
38 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 39
BIOENGINEERING
Justin S. Weinbaum, PhD Center for Bioengineering, #410 | 300 Technology Drive | Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Research Assistant Professor P: 412-624-9242
Director, Vascular ECM Dynamics Laboratory
juw51@pitt.edu
Associate Director, Vascular Bioengineering Laboratory
40 DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
Research Projects
1. Cellular dynamics in stroma-rich breast cancer microenvironments
Advanced HER2+ breast cancer has a poor prognosis; improving patient outcomes will
depend on elucidating mechanisms of therapy resistance. Motivated by our in vitro co-
culture studies, we hypothesized that fibroblasts activate tumor cell pro-survival signaling
and contribute to drug resistance. To dissect mechanisms of fibroblast-mediated therapy
resistance we measure the dynamics of breast cancer cells to HER2-targeting therapy
using microfluidic tumor slice cultures and controlled co-culture assays. By integrating
live cell death measurements with mathematical modeling we explore mechanisms
of cell-cell communication and develop an integrative framework to predict therapy
resistance in breast tumors that exhibit different stromal fibroblast densities.
2. Microfluidic models of ovarian cancer metastasis
Ovarian cancer is oftentimes not detected until after metastases have occurred. The
mechanisms of tumor cell survival during metastatic spread and the role of biomechanical
and biochemical factors on ovarian cancer invasion remain poorly understood. We have
developed a microfluidic device to control the interactions of ovarian cancer cells with
a mesothelial barrier and macrophages under fluid flow. The goal of this project is to
determine the role of fluid flow-induced forces and biochemical factors secreted by
macrophages on ovarian cancer invasion.
3. Localized drug release and single-cell technologies in cancer therapies
We have developed a 3D acoustofluidic platform to monitor heating-induced localized
drug release and study mechanisms of thermal cytotoxic therapy enhancement in invasive
ovarian cancer. To improve therapies targeting heterogeneous ovarian cancers we are
engineering single-cell microwell assays that enable screening of patient-derived cells
and xenograft models.
DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING 41
D E PA R T M E N T O F
Our research group is organized around design and develop- In parallel we develop systems level mechanistic models of
ment of engineering strategies for next-generation therapy. cell signaling pathways for various disease models as well as
On one hand we design engineering tools for stem cell based to understand self-renewal and differentiation of pluripotent
regenerative therapy. stem cells.
We are interested in molecular design goal is to fulfill the desired outcomes also employ molecular design to try to
and engineering, both for the creation of the users of chemical technologies create products that improve healthcare
of more sustainable chemical products while reducing life cycle impacts across outcomes. For example, tissue engineering
and for applications that will improve the board and thus avoiding the need to work on lysine-based polyurethanes in our
health care outcomes. In the case of employ value judgments in a less-than- lab led directly to the creation of TissuGlu®
the former, we endeavor to employ life adequate way to deal with trade-offs. surgical adhesive for use in eliminating the
cycle impact analysis to examine current In collaboration with Robert Enick’s need for drains following flap surgery, as
solutions to identify key environmental group, we are designing molecules that well as Sylys® surgical sealant for use in
bottlenecks, hence allowing creation of allow replacement of water by liquid reducing anastomotic leakage following
more sustainable alternatives. Our ultimate CO2 in oil and gas production. Finally, we bowel surgery.
Upon comparing the LCIA of the BAPC process tree (shown above)
and that of the Tritan copolyester (partial life cycle shown to the
left), we found a number of interesting facets. First, although
the phosgene used to make BAPC has received most of the
attention in previous green re-design schemes, it is the phenol
that dominates the overall life cycle impacts. Further, the life cycle
impacts of the Tritan copolyesters are generally lower than the
analogous scores for BAPC, However, if one compares bottles
manufactured from each of the materials, we found that 30%
more polymer is used to create the Tritan containers, wiping out
any environmental gains presented by the material itself.
fullerton@pitt.edu
www.fullertonlab.pitt.edu
Next-generation Electronics Beyond Batteries: Reinventing the Role of Ions in Electronics and
The vision of the Nanoionics and Smart Materials
Electronics Lab is to translate the use The interplay between ions and electrons governs processes as common as the biochemistry
of ions as a tool for exploring transport essential for life and the performance of devices as ubiquitous as batteries. The energy that
in new materials to an active device powers our smart phones and laptops is stored by ions, yet when we peer past the battery
component that makes possible new and examine the device-scale electronics, ions are nowhere to be found. This is a missed
electronic and photonic devices with opportunity because the coupling between ions and electrons/holes in unconventional
electronic materials – such as two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors – has is uncovering
functionalities that cannot be achieved
exciting new properties of these ultra-thin materials (e.g., spin-polarization, superconductivity
using conventional materials.
and others). While many groups use ions as a tool to uncover new properties of 2D
semiconductors, we ions as an active device component to impart completely new device
functionalities. For example, we have invented a monolayer ion-conductor that introduces
bistability for application as a flash memory (Xu, ACS Nano 2017); we’ve engineered the
ion-conductor for application in tamper-resistant electronics (Kinder, ACS AMI 2017); we
are exploring the fundamental limits of speed (Li, J. Phys. Chem. C 2017) to make ultra-fast
devices for neuromorphic computing; and we are using ions to make the next-generation of
smart materials (Chao Small 2018). Please visit www.fullertonlab.pitt.edu and check out
our recent publications:
• Liang et al., Advanced Materials Interfaces, • Li, et al., J. Phys. Chem. C., 2017, 121, 16996.
accepted 2018. • Kinder, et al., ACS Appl. Mater. Interf. 2017,
Susan Fullerton is an Assistant • Chao et al., Small 2018, 1802023. 9, 25006.
Professor in the Department of Chemical • Zhang et al., Advanced Functional Materials, 2018, • Xu, et al., ACS Nano, 2017, 11, 5453.
and Petroleum Engineering at the 28, 7. • Crouch, et al., ACS Nano 2017, 11, 4976.
University of • Lin et al., ACS Nano, 12, 2018, 965.
Pittsburgh.
She earned
her PhD in
Chemical
Engineering
at Penn State
in 2009, and
joined the
Department of
Outreach: Polymer Crystallization on Your iphone
Electrical Engineering at the University
of Notre Dame as a Research Assistant The Fullerton group enjoys teaching budding scientists about materials. We developed a
Professor. In 2015 she established the demonstration where a smartphone can be turned into a microscope to observe polymer
Nanoionics and Electronics Lab at Pitt. crystallization in real time!
Fullerton’s work has been recognized by
the NSF with an early CAREER award
(2018), by AAAS with a Marion Milligan
Mason award for Women in Chemical
Sciences (2018), and by ORAU with a
Ralph E. Powe Jr. Faculty Award (2016).
Figure 1. Molecular simulation (left) and experimental realization of a functionalized carbon nanotube membrane for desalination of seawater.
Simulations first predicted that zwitterion functionalized nanotubes could be effective for desalination by imparting gatekeeper functionality to
the nanotubes. The experiments verified the predictions, showing that a polyamide/carbon nanotube mixed matrix membrane has both higher
flux and higher selectivity compared with plain polyamide membranes.
Molecular modeling can be used to screen a range of materials for a given application,
thereby saving time and money by identifying a relatively small collection of promising
candidate materials that can be investigated experimentally. For example, we have
employed this strategy for screening of complex metal hydrides for hydrogen storage
using a set of criteria including gravimetric, volumetric, and thermodynamic metrics. We
were able to screen millions of compositions and conditions in order to identify a small
subset of a few promising candidate materials that had not previously been identified.
Several of these materials were investigated experimentally and some were found to
outperform existing complex hydrides in many respects. This basic approach can also be
applied to designing tailored sorbent and membrane materials based on metal organic
framework or similar materials. We also use the techniques of molecular modeling
to study complex systems involving chemical reactions on surfaces and in condensed
phases. For large-scale systems this demands a hybrid approach employing both quantum
mechanical modeling, to account for bond breaking and bond forming events, and Figure 2. Porous metal organic framework, UiO-66,
classical modeling to capture long-range interactions and physical collective phenomena functionalized with a Lewis pair catalytic site for
that are difficult to describe from a purely quantum mechanical approach. chemical reduction of CO2 to formic acid. This functional
group was designed from first-principles simulations.
Carbon Neutral Chemical and Fuel Modeling Local Solvation Effects: Computationally modeling atomic scale chemical
Generation: Our society heavily relies reaction mechanisms in solvents is very challenging. The reliable and robust schemes
on energy dense liquid fuels, but there is usually involve dynamics-based treatments with explicit solvation models that involve
a pressing need to sustainably produce large numbers of electronic structure calculations. While such efforts can be very
carbon neutral liquid fuels (CNLFs). Several insightful, they can also bring very large computational costs and/or technical challenges
independent researchers have reported that restrict their use in more complex systems. Our group is developing calculation
energetically schemes that can be used to better design environmentally green chelates and analyze
efficient CO2 local solvation effects in mixed composition ionic and molten solvents.
reduction (CO2R)
into methanol,
but there are
many open
questions about
the mechanisms for these processes.
Our group aims to elucidate if and how
this chemistry can occur. Our central
hypothesis is that that if hydrogen transfer Funding: NSF, Pitt MCSI
Recent publication: Y. Basdogan and J. A. Keith, “A paramedic treatment for modeling explicitly solvated chemical reaction
agents can catalyze CO2R, they do so
mechanism,” Chem. Sci. 9 (2018) 5341
serendipitously in specific electrochemical
environments that facilitate unsuspected
Accelerated Methods for High-Throughput Screening of Catalyst Sites:
modes of hydrogenation. Our technique is
Density functional theory (DFT)-based investigations of hypothetical catalysts are too
to computationally characterize (electro)
computationally demanding for wide searches across materials space. We have been
chemical phase diagrams for hypothetical
developing fast and accurate computational methods to accelerate characterizations
catalysts to identify thermodynamically
of reaction energies and barrier heights across diverse materials space.
accessible states at ambient conditions
as well as energetically efficient reaction Funding: R. K. Mellon Foundation, Naval Research Lab
Recent publication: K. Saravanan, J. R. Kitchin, O. A. von Lilienfeld, J. A. Keith, “Alchemical Predictions for Computational Catalysis:
pathways.
Potential and Limitations,” J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2017, 8, 5002-5007.
Funding: ACS Petroleum Research Fund, NSF
Recent publication: S. Ilic et al., “Thermodynamic Hydricities of
Biomimetic Organic Hydride Donors,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 140
(2018) 4569.
Simultaneous Oleophobicity/Hydrophilicity
Simultaneous oleophobic/hydrophilic
coatings are critical for applications in
anti-fogging, self-cleaning and oil-water
separation. However, the underlying
mechanisms remain clear. We are
investigating the governing mechanisms
and exploring the approaches in real-life
applications. (Li L.; Wang Y.; Gallaschun C.;
Risch T. and Sun J. J. Mater. Chem., 2012,
22(33), 16719)
Rational Design of
Research Focus Areas in Controlled Release Systems
the Little Lab
At the University of Pittsburgh, our
Researchers in Dr. Little’s Lab laboratory has developed a unique
focus upon therapies that are technology that allows for the specific
biomimetic in that they replicate the dosing and delivery needs of a particular
biological function and interactions therapy (e.g. therapeutic concentrations
of living entities using synthetic of chemokine over one month or longer) to
systems. The areas of study include be used as “input” to generate a unique
bioengineering, chemistry, chemical and customized formulation “recipe”. This
engineering, ophthalmology, and model-aided methodology can dramatically
immunology. The health issues reduce (or even completely eliminate)
addressed include autoimmune the need for traditional trial and error
disease, battlefield wounds, based optimization of controlled release
cancer, HIV, ocular diseases, and behavior. Importantly, this can be
transplantation. Some of the ongoing accomplished using well-established,
research projects in the lab include: biodegradable polymers that are
Mimicking Biological Structure and biocompatible, biodegradable and have
Behavior Using Polymeric Release an extraordinary track record of safety
Systems and Carbon Nanotubes, and translatability with the United
Treatments for Periodontitis that States Food and Drug Administration.
Restore Immunological Homeostasis, This unique methodology is also not
Sequential Delivery of Growth Factors only is capable of saving months
for Regeneration of Tissues, and to years in development time, but Figure 1: The Little Lab often uses the biocompatible,
Thermo-gelling Eye Drops for the also able to uniquely predict a final
biodegradable polymer poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid)
(PLGA) to form controlled release microspheres
Delivery of Ophthalmic Therapies. formulation’s sensitivity to future changes (A). For aqueous drugs, proteins, and peptides, the
The majority of the projects in the in critical processing parameters, allowing polymer matrix contains a microemulsion of e
ntrapped drug (B) that is controllably released as
Little Lab utilize some aspect of designs to be optimized for consistent
the microsphere degrades.
controlled release for drugs, proteins, performance through scale-up for preclinical
or other molecules. While such and clinical studies. Through projects
techniques are not uncommon in funded on a number of NIH, NSF, DoD, State, and Private Institute-funded grants, we
the field of drug delivery, our lab is have developed not only the tools needed to experimentally design, build, and validate a
unique in its ability to design such wide variety of controlled release vehicles but also the expertise needed to troubleshoot
systems in silico, thereby avoiding common road-blocks in this formulation development process.
unnecessary expenditure of time
and resources on heuristic testing
of controlled release formulations.
Our expertise in fabricating and
characterizing such systems in vitro
and in vivo is augmented by our
modeling capabilities.
Professor Badie I. Morsi joined the Chemical Multi-Phase Reactor Design and Scaleup
and Petroleum Engineering Department,
The design, scaleup, modeling, and
University of Pittsburgh in 1982 and currently is
optimization of industrial processes
Director of the Petroleum Engineering Program.
require, among others, precise
He received his B.S. in Petroleum Engineering
knowledge of the hydrodynamic,
from Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, in 1972; and
kinetics and heat as well as mass
M.S., PhD and ScD in Chemical Engineering
transfer parameters of the pertinent
from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des
gas-liquid-solid systems under
Industries Chimiques (ENSIC), Institut National
actual process conditions. The
Polytechnique de Lorraine (INPL) Nancy, France,
focus of our ongoing research is on
in 1977, 1997, and 1982, respectively.
characterization of the hydrodynamic
Professor Morsi’s research activities involve and gas-liquid mass transfer
different aspects of Chemical, Environmental, parameters in several important industrial processes, including Fischer-Tropsch synthesis,
and Petroleum Engineering. His recent propylene polymerization, cyclohexane oxidation, benzoic acid oxidation, toluene oxidation,
research work focuses on: design and scaleup hydrocracking of heavy oil residue, CO2 capture from fuel gas streams using chemical/
of multiphase reactors, and modeling and physical solvents, and SOx and well as NOx removal from flue gas using dry sorbents.
optimization of industrial processes with
focus on the Fischer Tropsch Synthesis. CO2 Novel Solvents for CO2 Capture from Hot Fuel Gas Streams
sequestration in deep coal seams; CO2 capture Carbon dioxide is the main contributor to global warming
from syngas and natural gas streams using and therefore needs to be removed from fuel gas
chemical and physical solvents; and EOR using streams. Conventional processes for acid gas removal
CO2 and alcohols. Professor Morsi is serving (AGR), including CO2 in power generation facilities are
as the Executive Director for the Annual either chemical, using methyl-diethanolamine (MDEA);
International Pittsburgh Coal Conference or physical process, using chilled methanol (Rectisol) or
(PCC) and has been serving as a consultant mixtures of dimethylethers of polyetheleneglycol (Selexol).
to major corporations and organizations in The issue with using Selexol is that it is hydrophilic and
the US and worldwide, in addition of being the process is not energy efficient as it requires cooling
a reviewer for numerous scientific journals, the fuel gas and then heating it after CO2 absorption.
conferences and agencies. Professor Morsi Therefore, finding other solvents with more favorable
is the Editor, Proceedings of the International properties is necessary to remove CO2 more efficiently.
PCC; Associate Editor-in-Chief, International
Journal of Clean Coal and Energy; Editorial Process Modelling and Optimization
Board, International Journal of Chemical Development of robust reactor and process models
Engineering; and Editorial Board, Journal of is of vital importance and interest to all branches of
Materials Science and Chemical Engineering. the chemical and petroleum, and biological process
Among his various honors are the Beitle-Veltri industries. Our ongoing modeling activities include
School of Engineering’s Outstanding Teaching process modeling and optimization of the Fischer-
Award (1999); CNG Faculty Fellow (1991-1995); Tropsch (F-T) Synthesis by incorporating different
The Richard A. Glenn Award, ACS National tail gas recycling options, in addition to 1-D and 2-D
Meetings (1995&2002); Mentor of the Year empirical modeling of Slurry Bubble Column Reactors
Award, 2002-2003 Minority Engineering (SBCRs) and 1-D empirical modeling of Microchannel reactors (MCRs) using the axial
Mentoring Program; and George M. and dispersion model. Moreover, multiphase Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling with
Eva M. Bevier professorship (2001-2005). He emphasis on F-T SBCRs through the developing of mathematical 3-D multi-Eulerian and/
is also a member of SPE, AIChE, ACS, and AFS. or Eulerian-Lagrangian CFD model for investigating key spatio-temporal complexities and
local hydrodynamics, and CFD modeling with emphasis on F-T MCRs to evaluate process
intensification capabilities.
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL AND PETROLEUM ENGINEERING 53
CHEMICAL & PETROLEUM ENGINEERING
Giannis Mpourmpakis, PhD
905 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Bicentennial Alumni Faculty Fellow P: 412-624-7034 F: 412-624-9639
Assistant Professor
gmpourmp@pitt.edu
Research in CANELA
In the Computer-Aided Nano and from energy generation and storage to elucidate complex chemical processes that
Energy Lab (CANELA), we use theory materials engineering and catalysis. take place on nanomaterials. Ultimately,
and computation to investigate Our laboratory core expertise lies on we design novel nanostructures with
the physicochemical properties of “ab-initio” electronic-structure theoretical increased, molecular-level precision and
nanomaterials with potential applications calculations. We develop structure-activity tailored multifunctionality.
in diverse nanotechnological areas, ranging relationships and apply multiscale tools to
Research Thrusts
Nanocatalysis: Catalysis becomes extremely complex at
nanoscale. The goal of this work is to understand the catalytic
behavior of metal-oxide supported nanoparticles under realistic
experimental conditions. We elucidate the bonding characteristics
of adsorbates on nanoparticles and develop relationships
predicting their binding energy versus the nanoparticle structural
characteristics. Additionally, we investigate the catalytic
mechanisms on both metals and metal oxide supports by taking
into account complex physical phenomena (support effects and
reconstruction) occurring on the catalyst. Finally, we propose
novel nanocatalysts with optimal catalytic activity under
experimental conditions.
Dr. Niepa is an Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, in collaboration screening of currently unculturable
Chemical and Petroleum Engineering with with Professor Mark Goulian in Biology to microbial communities relevant to
an expertise in microbial interactions develop new methods to study microbial biotechnology and drug discovery. His
with biointerfaces. He received a PhD dynamics in artificial microniches. He efforts in bioelectrochemistry led to the
in Chemical Engineering with honors deciphered the interfacial properties of design of patent winning technologies for
from Syracuse University, focusing on bacterial films at oil-water interfaces. controlling of microbial pathophysiology
electrochemical treatment of surface- This expertise provides a platform for with bioelectrical systems. Also, Dr.
attached and drug-resistant bacteria. him to make unique contributions to Niepa is a co-founder of Helios Innovative
Upon graduating, He joined the University diverse fields ranging from microbial- Technologies Inc. (now PurpleSun Inc.),
of Pennsylvania as a Postdoctoral Fellow based methods of oil recovery to a medical device company that develops
for Academic Diversity. At UPenn, he the development of technologies automated sterilization systems to fight
worked with Professors Kathleen Stebe having applications for personalized bacterial cross-contamination and hospital
and Daeyeon Lee in Chemical and therapeutics, or in high-throughput acquired-infections.
Research Interests
Our mission is to decipher how the interfacial properties of materials affect the
physiological response of microorganisms and thereby develop new strategies to
minimize the deleterious and optimize the beneficial activities of cells. The
physicochemical mechanisms that regulate microbial growth in various settings remain
poorly understood for reasons linked not only to the versatility of the microorganisms
but also to the challenge of designing new platforms to study or control them. Our
translational research program elucidates these mechanisms by developing sustainable
control strategies for microbes relevant to health, industry and the environment. We
are pursuing three interrelated research thrusts to: (1) Eliminate pathogenic microbial
communities (biofilms) associated with implantable devices using conductive-substrate
interfaces; (2) Model pathogenic and beneficial microbial communities (microbiomes)
in artificial microniches made of soft biomaterial; and (3) Control beneficial interfacial
biofilms using surface active compounds.
Building upon the understanding of the electrophysiology of highly drug-tolerant
bacteria to cure chronic infections, we target the design of alternative ways to control
microbial persistence and pathogenicity with conductive-substrates incorporated
in medical devices. In our second thrust, we develop porous, semi-permeable or
polyelectrolyte membranes (soft nanomaterials) for biotechnological applications.
We direct their metabolic activity towards desired ends, e.g., the creation of new
materials and bioproducts. Finally, our third thrust addresses interfacial phenomena
influencing the metabolic activity of bacteria at fluid interfaces. By characterizing the
interfacial and metabolic properties of bacterial films, we aim to elaborate new
surface-active molecules to prevent the biodeterioration of economically relevant
food and pharmaceutical products, while promoting crude oil remediation.
Uptake of G-CSF
Most cancer patients receive chemotherapy apoptotic
neutrophils
rescue IL-1
CLP
during their course of treatment. These Dose and IL-23 Vascular
agents impede cellular growth, thereby Schedule PK Spleen/
lymph nodes
Marginal
pool (Np) space
jason.shoemaker@pitt.edu
www.shoemakerlab.pitt.edu
Systems Immunology
We all fear disease but the unfortunate truth is that our bodies are often responsible
for the damage wrought during disease progression. Our bodies have evolved several
internalized sentinel programs that compromise our immune response. When functioning
effectively, our immune response rapidly detects threatening pathogens and activates
processes that assess and respond appropriately. But, occasionally, such as during certain
viral and bacterial infections, our body responds too aggressively to the pathogen. These
overly aggressive responses by our immune system results in major tissue inflammation
and can greatly complicate patient recovery. We seek to develop immuno-modulatory
therapies that work with the immune response to improve patient health.
Fig. 1
Other Research
• We are keenly interested in thin film buckling phenomena, e.g. the
coupling between elastic mechanics of thin films and viscous flow, particle-free
swelling-induced buckle delamination of films, buckling in block polylactic acid with particles
copolymers, and realizing reversibly-texturing surfaces by harnessing
thin film buckling.
• Our lab regularly assists researchers with rheological characterization
of hydrogels. These include hydrogels prepared from Extracellular
Matrix proteins (in collaboration with the Badylak lab at Pitt), or
synthetic hydrogels used in medical or sensor applications.
• We have assisted the Asher lab in Chemistry in developing new ways
to fabricate two-dimensional colloidal crystals (right).
• We are interested in using microfluidic devices for material synthesis.
For example, we developed a microfluidic device that can handle
molten polymers so as to make polymer microparticles.
gveser@pitt.edu
Process Intensification
Götz Veser obtained a Diploma in chemical
engineering at the University of Karlsruhe “Process Intensification” (PI) is a
(now Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) conceptual approach to reaction
and a PhD in physical chemistry at the Fritz engineering with the aim to radically
Haber Institute, Berlin (with R. Imbihl and reduce the physical and/or energy
G. Ertl). Following two years as Feodor- footprint of existing processes. The
Lynen Postdoctoral Fellow with Lanny Veser group is developing intensified
Schmidt at the University of Minnesota, process schemes for natural gas
he returned to Germany as research conversion, focused on multifunctional
associate at the University of Stuttgart reactor concepts via dynamic reactor
and research group leader at the Max- operation. These include heat-
Planck-Institute for Coal Research integrated reactors via reverse-flow
(Mülheim an der Ruhr). In 2002, he joined operation and so-called “chemical looping”, a reactor concept originally proposed for
the University of Pittsburgh. clean combustion but with broad applicability in fuel processing.
(G. Veser, “Multiscale process intensification for catalytic partial oxidation of methane: From nanostructured catalysts to
Dr. Veser’s research interests are in cata-
integrated reactor concepts,” Catal. Today, 157 (2010) 24)
lytic reaction engineering with a focus on
natural gas conversion and related energy
technologies. Among his recent honors Nanomaterials for Catalysis
and awards are the Career Award of the Tailoring of materials structure and
National Science Foundation (2005), the composition on the nano- and sub-
R.A. Glenn Award of the Fuel Chemistry nanometer scale has enabled the “
Division of the American Chemical Society engineering” of functional materials
(2007), and invited plenaries at the 6th with unprecedented precision.
World Congress on Oxidation Catalysis Nanomaterials are hence becoming
(Lille, France; 2009) and the 10th Natural key enablers for a wide range of
Gas Conversion Symposium (Doha, Qatar; emerging technologies. The Veser
2013), Dr. Veser is also RUA faculty at the lab is developing new approaches to
U.S. Department of Energy’s National endow nanomaterials with the stability and robustness required to withstand the often
Energy Technology Laboratory, and currently extremely demanding conditions of industrial catalytic processes.
serves on the editorial boards of multiple (A. Cao et al.; PhysChemChemPhys., 12 (2010) 13499)
journals in the area of reaction engineering.
Nanotoxicity
Despite increasing evidence that nanomaterials can show significantly elevated toxicity,
they are finding increasingly widespread application in consumer products ranging from
cosmetics over clothing to consumer electronics. There is hence urgency to establish
appropriate toxicity tests for this emerging class of materials.
In collaboration with colleagues at UPMC, the Veser group is developing zebrafish
assays as a fast screening tool for nanotoxicity. To-date, they have demonstrated that
nanostructuring can have profound impact on the fate and toxicity of these materials, and
can serve as an effective means to counter their toxicity.
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL AND PETROLEUM ENGINEERING 59
CHEMICAL & PETROLEUM ENGINEERING
Christopher E. Wilmer, PhD
903 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Assistant Professor P: 412-624-9154
wilmer@pitt.edu
www.wilmerlab.com
Can an Electronic Nose Beat a Dog’s Nose? What porous material would let you make the most
energy efficient carbon capture technology? By
Although we now have cameras that can see better than human eyes, we still lack an computationally simulating CO2 capture in each of
electronic device that can replicate the sensitivity and accuracy of the mammalian nose. over a hundred thousand porous materials (pictured
above), we are able to ignore ineffective candidates
A biological nose uses hundreds of distinct olfactory receptors to distinguish different
(grey) and focus on promising ones (colored).
odors. An electronic nose needs, correspondingly, hundreds of materials that each
respond in a unique way to different odors. This is a classic “big data” problem, and our
lab is exploring thousands of materials to find the combination that will out-smell a dog.
judyyang@pitt.edu
Fig. 2
Sustainable Healthcare
As environmental sustainability increases, the healthcare industry, with its relative size,
costs, waste generation, and expected growth, is under pressure to improve its economic,
social, and environmental sustainability. With these challenges and growing concerns
about the US healthcare industry and the general health of the public, hospitals are called
upon to be designed more sustainably and to improve the environmental sustainability of
their processes and procedures. In order to implement more environmentally sustainable
hospital building design and medical practices, healthcare decision-makers need proper
tools and information about the industry’s current environmental footprint, which aspects
of hospital design and function contribute most significantly to environmental and human
health impacts.
64 DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
Andrew P. Bunger, PhD
710 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261
P: 412-624-9875 C: 412-290-6345 Associate Professor, R.K. Mellon Faculty Fellow in Energy
Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering (Secondary)
bunger@pitt.edu Center for Energy
NETL RUA Professor
Top: Photo from “Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States: A
Primer,” US Department of Energy, April 2009. Bottom: Sketch of laboratory
equipment showing an example with a transparent PMMA specimen.
Volume 4 Number 9 September 2017 Pages 1765–1912 Volume 5 Number 5 May 2018 Pages 1047–1254 Volume 5 Number 9 September 2018 Pages 2023–2206
PAPER www.acs.org
Leanne M. Gilbertson et al. PERSPECTIVE PAPER
Methodology for quantifying engineered nanomaterial release from Leanne M. Gilbertson et al. Leanne M. Gilbertson et al.
diverse product matrices under outdoor weathering conditions and Life cycle considerations of nano-enabled agrochemicals: are today’s Emerging investigator series: it’s not all about the ion: support for
implications for life cycle assessment tools up to the task? particle-specific contributions to silver nanoparticle antimicrobial activity
sjhaig@pitt.edu
Infrastructure Renewal
The state of the Nation’s and the world’s civil infrastructure is poor and deteriorating
rapidly. Innovative, cost-effective and sustainable means of repairing, retrofitting and
rehabilitating our built environment are of critical importance. Dr. Harries’ expertise
lies in developing and demonstrating these means. Harries is a structural engineer;
his specialization in large- and full-scale structural testing, coupled with a background
in applied mechanics places him in a unique position among university researchers.
forensic study of 2005 collapse of Lake View Drive bridge
Harries’ infrastructure-related research focuses in the following areas:
• methods of repair and retrofit of concrete and steel structures
with a focus on prestressed concrete bridge systems;
• innovative structural systems for high-rise structures;
• fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) structural systems (bridge decks);
• applications of large- and full-scale structural testing;
• natural-hazards mitigation and seismic design and retrofit; and,
fatigue behavior of CFRP-repaired concrete beams
• forensic study and analysis of structural failures. 1000
X1 =X2 (• •=∞ ) • •= 1.38
••= 1.79
X1 (• •=0)
Transmissibility, X/U
X2 (• •=0)
10 Q
Harries’ research has a strong focus on the use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP)
P
• CFRP (carbon) for concrete and steel structural repair; optimization of coupled high-rise structures
ati2@pitt.edu
www.engineering.pitt.edu/mining/
jslin@pitt.edu
http://www.engineering.pitt.edu/JeenShangLin/
Continuum-Discrete Analysis
Many problems of importance involve interaction of continuum with discontinuum.
For instance, bones may be viewed as discrete objects and tissues and muscles the
continuum; dams the continuum and the fracture rocks foundation the discrete objects.
A continuum may also rupture into several discrete objects. This class of problems
requires a dedicated, efficient computational approach. We have worked on continuum
damage mechanics together with element erosion in FEM to model fracture. We have
also developed algorithms in a mesh based partition of unity method, also known as
the numerical manifold method, to address interaction across discontinuities.
EMI for the Assessment of Dental Implants
P
Z
Missing teeth is a problem that involves of a piezo-transducer glued to the abutment T
people of any country and race. Dental screwed to an implant. We hypothesize that
implants are increasingly used to replace the electrical impedance of this disposable
missing teeth, but the proper success of the transducer glued to the abutment inserted,
therapy is related to the ability to assess the during periodic visits, to the implant, can
occurrence of full osseointegration, when a diagnose the progress of the implant therapy.
stable implant-bone interface is reached.
We propose a new biomedical device to
Left: Photo of an artificial tooth supported by an implant.
assess such stability. The device exploits Right top: PZT bonded to an implant. Right bottom: finite
the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) element model for EMI study
Community-Level Resiliency
Quantitative assessment of community-level resiliency informs smart development and
emergency planning and can provide real-time economic impact and damage assessments
following extreme events including earthquakes, windstorms and storm surge. Current
research in this area is focused on developing community-level impact assessment tools
by developing detailed structural databases and integrating structural instrumentation
and advanced numerical methods.
Dr. George is Fellow of the IEEE for contributions in reconfigurable and high-performance
computing. He was lead recipient of the 2012 Alexander Schwarzkopf Prize for Technology
Innovation by an NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) for
leading the development of Novo-G, the most powerful reconfigurable supercomputer in
the world at that time. Dr. George has won a variety of faculty awards, including college
scholar and teacher of the year, university teacher of the year, college doctoral advisor
of the year, college faculty mentor of the year, university service award, and university
productivity award. He has served as principal investigator on research contracts and
grants totaling well over $20M and, with his students, authored over 200 refereed journal
and conference papers. During his 20 years on the faculty at the University of Florida, he
established and led to prominence the computer engineering half of the ECE Department,
Dr. George joined Pitt in January 2017 and he led the university committee that founded the first supercomputer center in school
as Department Chair, R&H Mickle history that has grown to become one of the largest campus facilities in the U.S.
Endowed Chair, and Professor of One of the hallmarks of Dr. George’s research is demonstrable
Electrical and Computer Engineering. impact from close collaboration with industry and
He is Founder and Director of the government partners. His group works closely with
new NSF Center of Space, High- NASA, AFRL, NSA, ONR, and other federal agencies,
performance Reconfigurable Computing as well as Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Harris, Intel,
(SHREC), a national research center and many other companies on research in mission-critical
and consortium founded in September computing. One recent example is a novel form of hybrid and
2017 and headquartered at Pitt. SHREC reconfigurable space computer (called CSP), invented by his group
features 30 academic, industry, and and then adopted by many of these partners. Computing in space is of critical need,
government partners working on since future spacecraft must achieve high performance and reliability in computing to
collaborative research in mission- fulfill mission parameters for autonomous sensor processing, guidance, and
critical computing. In this field, Dr. control. However, computing in space is a daunting challenge, due
George’s research expertise and to the limited resources (power, size, weight) and the hazardous
activities are in high-performance environment (radiation, temperature, vacuum, vibration) of
computer architectures, apps, spaceflight. In March 2017, a pair of these CSP space computers
networks, services, systems, and with high-resolution camera on the DOD STP-H5 mission became
missions, featuring reconfigurable, operational on the International Space Station (ISS) and will serve
parallel, distributed, and dependable as a research testbed for several years under Pitt control. A second
computing, from satellites to research experiment for Pitt on the ISS, featuring a cluster of CSP
supercomputers. space computers and dual high-resolution cameras on the DOD
STP-H6 mission, is scheduled for launch in early 2019. Moreover,
a series of CSP-based satellites for Earth orbit and lunar flyby are
slated for launch in the next few years.
Dr. Brandon Grainger holds a PhD in electrical engineering electronics (380Vdc and higher). Power semiconductor evaluation
concentrating in kW / MW scale power electronics and controls, (SiC and GaN), DC/DC converter and inverter topology design,
microgrids, and medium voltage DC systems. advanced controller design, high power density design, military
Dr. Grainger has a master’s degree in power systems, DC system design and protection, HVDC/FACTS,
electrical engineering with a concentration and other genres. He is a member of the IEEE Power Electronics
in electric power engineering and bachelor’s Society, Industrial Electronics Society and has 50+ articles
degree in mechanical engineering. He was published in leading IEEE journals and conference proceedings
also one of the first endowed R.K. Mellon to date. He is also the former chair of the award winning IEEE
graduate student fellows through the Center Pittsburgh PELS chapter.
for Energy at the University of Pittsburgh.
“Presently 30% of all electric power generated uses power electronics technologies
His research concentrations and interests are in electric power somewhere between the point of generation and end-use. By 2030, 80% of all
conversion. This includes medium to high voltage power electric power will flow through power electronics.” – Dept. of Energy
Power Electronic R&D Efforts in Modern Grid Architectures High Power Density Inverter Design
Research and development needs are centered upon operational Goal is to achieve power densities of
inverter improvements (harsh environment design, robust 50W/in3 and handle 2 kVA.
operation during fault conditions, improved overload, volume and
weight reduction) and improved system yields. Dr. Grainger takes
a bottom-up approach to solving global electric power issues.
With colleagues and students, he is designing power electronic
system solutions that help to resolve system level problems.
Power Electronic Circuit Reliability Shipboard Power Conversion Direct Current System Design
The tradeoff of grid voltage support (grid Modular approaches are being designed to Novel methods for determining faulted
resiliency enhanced by advanced inverter integrate energy storage on ships, reduce ship segments of DC architectures and microgrids
capability) and the reliability of the power weight, equipment footprint, and improve are patent pending. DC circuit interruption
semiconductors (handling added stress) system resiliency. using power electronics is a key enabler for
is under study. DC grids being studied.
3φ AC Grid Tie MG Disconnect
Transformer
Load
DC Source
(PV emulator)
3φ DG Inverter
jthu@pitt.edu
http://www.pitt.edu/~jthu/
Self-powered computing devices that can run for decades with little However, to achieve this goal, there are still several challenges.
maintenance are especially attractive to many sensor applications for One of the intrinsic challenges is that the harvested energy
which it is challenging to employ traditional battery or cable power since sources are intermittent. Under frequently interrupted power,
it is inconvenient, costly or even dangerous to replace or service them. system running will be interrupted. Therefore, large tasks can
Examples of such applications include implantable sensor, wearable never finish under such circumstances. To take advantage of
health monitor, water pipeline or building HVAC status monitor, soil
unlimited free energy supply, a new computing paradigm
or water pollution monitor, etc. Energy harvesting techniques, which
which can make progress even under intermittent power
generate electric energy from their ambient environment using direct
energy conversion techniques, provide a promising way to realize this
supply is needed.
goal. Energy harvesting can eliminate the need for batteries or wires
and enable long-term running of these systems.
Non-volatile
Data Storage NVM
The parallelism and heterogeneity of new computing systems have life-cycle assessment of larger systems such as buildings, emerging
led to a myriad of new opportunities in the design of computer non-volatile memory research to support ultra-low energy computing,
architectures and systems. My research focuses on methods to allow and balancing environmental impacts from the manufacturing
compilers, operating systems, and computer architectures to work and use-phases of integrated circuits. Further, I am active in
together in enabling higher levels of performance, improving energy interdisciplinary electrical, computer, and biological research related
efficiency, and increasing reliability and robustness of next-generation to development of medical instruments. My research is funded both
computer systems. This form of cross-layer research enables by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and industry partners.
optimizations that can achieve orders of magnitude of improvement Moreover, I collaboratively developed and direct a new NSF I/UCRC
over techniques that address each layer individually. I am also active center called Nexys, which brings together industry, government,
in computing for sustainability. As a member of the Pitt’s Mascaro and multi-university collaborations to form multidisciplinary teams to
Center for Sustainable Innovation (MCSI), my work has investigated address collectively identified key research challenges in computing.
lightweight grid computing, computing/sensing hubs to support
Interdisciplinary
Cross-layer Computer System Design Computing Research
A key limiting factor of modern computer systems I work closely with other disciplines
is data access latency, motivating the employment to employ optimized computing in
Operating and of every increasing cache size. My research shows innovative ways. One example is the
Runtime System
Compiler that data access locality can often be discovered development of a lightweight grid and
through software-layer or compiler analysis and sensor hub called Ocelot and Lynx,
communicated to the architecture through the respectively (Figure), which supports
operating system in a cross-layer fashion. This dynamic life-cycle assessment
information can be used to improve the efficiency research crossing the borders of civil
Memory Interconnection of architectural components such as caches and and mechanical engineering. I am also
Organization Network on-chip networks between processors in multi-core involved in developing lightweight,
environments. Further, improved methods to access massively parallel sensor hubs for low-
memory in a comprehensive fashion are possible cost patient testing and monitoring.
compared with examining each system level or component in isolation. As such, cross- Through my research and service I am
layer optimization often leads to dramatic improvements in performance and energy. a leader of community-wide efforts
My research is based on the premise that system layers should be designed cooperatively to improve the scientific method of
to improve data access latency. Thus, application information extracted from higher computer science research and develop
system levels such as from the compiler can be used throughout the system layers to a new vision for next generation
optimize the whole system. An example contribution of my work would be classification design technology and automation of
of data for parallel applications, which can be used to keep data local to the core that computing in light of new technologies
uses it in a chip multiprocessor (CMP). Further, the shared memory concept and non- and levels of scale.
uniform cache architectures (NUCA) that ease the programmer’s burden for leveraging
parallelism in CMPs can also obscure the implied data partitioning and communication
of the underlying parallel algorithm. My research also detects and recovers this
information at various levels and uses it to guide data placement in distributed caches
and optimize the interconnect to reduce communication delays. Further, my research
leverages application data access characteristics to enable integration of new and
traditional non-volatile memory technologies (e.g., flash, STT-RAM) by mitigating their
asymmetric access properties.
Ad-hoc node
Dedicated WSN node
Dashboard and server complex
hkk@pitt.edu
Nano-optics and nano-electronics: materials and devices; as a medium for low-voltage, ultrafast transport of electrons.
hierarchical integration of nanoscale structures into systems Nano-plasmonics as an enabling technology for implementing
for multifunctional operations. Study of plasmonic phenomena nanosystems-on-a-chip that offer multifunctionality across
as a possible gateway to merging optics with electronics and heterogeneous domains including optical, electrical, chemical,
overcoming their limits. Use of nanoscale void (air) channel and biological domains.
Relevant Publications
1. H. K. Kim and M. Kim, 2. S. Srisonphan, M. Kim, 3. H. K. Kim, G. W. Hanson, and 4. S. Srisonphan, Y. S. Jung,
“Suspended Graphene” and H. K. Kim, “Space charge D. A. Geller, “Are gold clusters and H. K. Kim, “Metal-
(book chapter) in Carbon neutralization by electron- in RF fields hot or not?” oxide-semiconductor field-
Nanomaterials Sourcebook, transparent suspended Science 340, 441-442 (2013). effect-transistor with a
ed. K. D. Sattler (CRC Press), graphene,” Scientific Reports vacuum channel,” Nature
pp. 3-27 (2016). 4, 3764(6) (2014). Nanotechnology 7, 504-508
(2012).
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING 85
ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING
Alexis Kwasinski, PhD
1105 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Associate Professor P: 412-383-6744
R. K. Mellon Faculty Fellow in Energy
akwasins@pitt.edu
http://www.pitt.edu/~akwasins
Prof. Kwasinski’s research is in the broad areas of sustainable plant industry. This combination of
and resilient power and energy systems, with a focus on academic and industry experience
microgrids, power electronics, controls, availability modeling, provided Dr. Kwasinski with a practical
interdependencies characterization, smart grids, integration research perspective based on real
of energy storage devices and of renewable and alternative world applications supported by thorough theoretical analyses
power sources, and advanced power distribution architectures. and strong experimental validation. In his research vision, system
Prof. Kwasinski joined the University of Pittsburgh from The analysis is supported and integrated with component level studies.
University of Texas at Austin where he reached the rank of At Pitt, Dr. Kwasinski founded the Laboratory for the Exploration of
Associate Professor with tenure. Early in his career he worked Advanced Energy Resilience Solutions (e-LEAdERS).
for almost 10 years in telecommunications power and outside
gul6@pitt.edu
www.pitt.edu/~gul6
Dr. Guagyong Li is an Associate Professor Particularly, Li is interested in developing biomaterials at cellar and molecular
in the Department of Electrical and nanorobotic systems to manipulate levels; studying fundamental physics of
Computer Engineering. Li’s major materials at nanoscale; developing organic/inorganic thin film solar cells
research interests include micro/nano nanoscale metrological instruments and through multiscale modeling and simulation
robotics; nanoscale characterization; thin technologies to study fundamental physics as well as nanoscale characterization.
film solar cells; biocellular mechanics. of nanodevices and to characterize
f.xiong@pitt.edu
xionglab.pitt.edu
Research Interests
Electronics
• Energy-efficient electronics • Next-generation memory devices
• Device physics (PCM and RRAM)
• Flexible, wearable electronics • Neuromorphic computing Energy Tunable
Efficient Electronics
• Novel 1D/2D materials • Electro-thermal transport
Flexible Energy
• Electrochemical intercalation • Thermoelectric energy harvesting Electronics Harvesting
• Tunable electronics
Materials Innovation
Graphene-Engineered Devices
We are investigating graphene-based materials for various device applications.
In particular, our current focus is infrared sensor development based on
graphene and graphene-oxide materials. The goal of this research is to
investigate thermoelectric graphene and thermal graphene oxide (GOx) infrared
radiation (IR) sensors that will operate at uncooled temperatures. The specific
aims of this research are; (1) understanding of critical parameters for IR
detectors, (2) development of thermoelectric IR sensor based on graphene,
and (3) development of thermal IR sensor (bolometer) based on GOx. The
primary scientific focuses of this research are (i) to identify responsible
parameter for producing the wideband IR and backgrounds so that the
proposed work will improve the understanding of graphene and GOx
properties for IR sensor applications, (ii) to determine the key advantages
of the graphene/GOx based IR detector approach that offers inherent broad
frequencies and enhanced sensitivities without the need for bulky filters,
and (iii) to conduct wide range IR surveys of the thermal emissions from hot
objects at room temperature.
Current Results:
To realize a proof of concept graphene-based IR sensor, we have fabricated
thermopile devices using multilayer graphene (MLG) on the top of a free-
standing SiNx membrane and established a substantial temperature gradient
on the device as shown in the figure (bottom). To demonstrate the IR sensor
operation, graphene channels were placed such that long and narrow MLG
channels are positioned on free-standing SiNx membrane (hot zone), whereas
a wide graphene heat sink is located on the top of Si substrate (cold zone).
INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
Mostafa Bedewy, PhD
1035 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Assistant Professor P: 412-624-2682
mbedewy@pitt.edu
www.mostafabedewy.com
Molecular Origami/kirigami-
Nanomanufacturing Biomanufacturing based Manufacturing Cybermanufacturing
Manufacturing
Original
Control
Improved
Biography
Prior to Pitt, Dr. Bedewy was as a Postdoctoral Associate Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) in 2017, the
at MIT (2013-2016), and he received his PhD from Meyer Award from the American Carbon Society in
the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor (2013). He 2016, the Towner Prize for Distinguished Academic
has also recently received the Outstanding Young Achievement from the University of Michigan in 2014,
Manufacturing Engineer Award from the Society and the Silver Award from the Materials Research
of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) in 2018, the Powe Society (MRS) in 2013.
Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from the Oak
Professional Skills
Investigating certain professional
skills has been the other aspect of my
research. Through NSF and Department of
Education funding, ethical understanding
and teamwork skills were thoroughly
investigated, resulting in new instruments
for the engineering education community.
More recently, we have been assessing the
spectrum of international undergraduate
engineering educational experiences. The
Technical Skills NAE together with a growing number of
Under prior funding on engineering problem solving and modeling, we have assessed how engineering education researchers have
engineering students navigated problem solving and engineering modeling as evaluated underscored the need for U.S. engineering
through journaling and reflection, self-efficacy, and work sampling via personal digital graduates to be capable of effectively
devices given to students. More recently we have worked in the area of innovative collaborating across national boundaries
design and entrepreneurship. We have developed measures to track innovativeness in as their professional practice is becoming
engineering design. Complementary to this work, we developed a set of assessment increasingly global in nature. Our research
tools to measure technical entrepreneurship in engineering education. It is through this team has worked with 14 different
work that we conducted a cross-institutional study with approximately 15 engineering engineering schools to measure the impact
schools measuring aspects of how engineering students develop entrepreneurship. This of international studies on engineering
work is timely as innovation, entrepreneurship and the maker movement is coming to the students and their global preparedness.
forefront of education.
Bio
Karen Bursic is an Associate Professor and the Undergraduate Program Director for
Industrial Engineering. She received her B.S., M.S., and PhD degrees in Industrial
Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining the department she worked
as a Senior Consultant for Ernst and Young and as an Industrial Engineer for General
Motors Corporation. She teaches undergraduate courses in engineering economics,
engineering management, and probability and statistics in Industrial Engineering as well
as engineering computing in the freshman engineering program. She is a senior member
of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, American Society for Engineering Education and
a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Pennsylvania.
Research Interests
Dr. Bursic’s research focus is on improving Engineering Education and she has over
20 years’ experience and numerous publications in this area. She has expertise in
researching the effectiveness of state of the art teaching pedagogies including: Active
Learning (instructional methods to increase student engagement in the learning process);
Model-Eliciting Activities (complex, realistic, open-ended client-driven problems based
on six specific principles that include model construction, reality, self-assessment, model
documentation, generalizability, and an effective prototype); Student Response Devices
(hand-held electronic devices that allows students to anonymously respond to a question
posed by the instructor and then compare their response to the rest of the class, also
known as “Clickers”); and Flipping (video lectures viewed by students outside of class and
homework and problem solving done in class). She has also done research and published
work in the areas of Engineering and Project Management with a particular focus on the
use of teams in manufacturing organizations. She is a well-known and active member of
the engineering economy teaching community via the Engineering Economy division of
the American Society for Engineering Education.
Some of the most challenging studies for medical devices design/manufacturing, we have a profound interest in biology,
today are in the interdisciplinary research on advanced material chemistry, and medicine because these complex interrelated topics
processing, biology/chemistry of interfaces, physics for design/ represent the key challenges facing most medical devices used in
manufacturing (i.e., microfabrication), in-vitro/in-vivo tests, and the vascular system. In addition, we are expanding our research to
clinical trials. Our group’s primary research focus is on designing, implantable microsystems (e.g., sensors and actuators) for diagnose
manufacturing, and testing of medical devices to treat vascular and treatment of vascular diseases, as well as more on circulatory
diseases (e.g., cerebral and aortic aneurysms, peripheral arterial diseases (i.e., cardiac, pulmonary, or renal) in the human body. Our
disease, coronary artery diseases and heart valves disease, etc.) goal of this research is to diagnose and help in the treatment of
using smart artificial materials through minimally invasive surgery. specific circulatory diseases concurrently using micro-scale devices
Our research lab is collaborating with a wide range of researchers implanted in the conduit of body. Our ultimate goal is to provide
focused on developing a device for important or sustainment of innovative minimally invasive surgical solutions based on new
human life. Besides a fundamental knowledge and technology in developments in science and engineering.
Research Overview
Daniel Jiang’s research interests are in the area of sequential decision
making in the presence of uncertainty, where he has a special interest in
handling the theoretical and computational challenges introduced by risk.
Previous research has focused on topics in energy, an application area
that is not only timely and relevant considering today’s rapidly changing
energy landscape, but has also proven itself to be a rich problem domain,
due to inherent stochasticity, the often-present curse of dimensionality,
and the importance of managing risk in a sequential way.
Research Projects
• Approximate dynamic programming algorithms that exploit structural
properties of intractable sequential decision problems.
• Optimal policies for energy arbitrage involving dynamic bidding
strategies.
• Data-driven methods for solving risk-averse sequential decision
problems.
• Spectrum of risk-averse policies for electric vehicle charging policies.
all order–up–to policies
• Monte Carlo tree search using information relaxation upper bounds B
applied to ride-sharing. risk R ⇤ (B)
parameters
• Naloxone procurement and distribution amidst the opioid crisis. risk–averse optimal policies
Biographical Sketch
Daniel Jiang joined the Department of Industrial The methodologies developed in his dissertation,
Engineering in September 2016. He received titled “Risk-Neutral and Risk-Averse Approximate
his PhD in May 2016 and MA in May 2013 from Dynamic Programming Methods,” are readily
Princeton University in the Department of Operations applicable to sequential optimization problems
Research and Financial Engineering. He completed related to the electricity market, energy storage,
his Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Engineering and integration of renewables, demand response, and
Mathematics from Purdue University in May 2011. electric vehicles.
Biographical Sketch
Jeffrey P. Kharoufeh is a Professor and M.S. degrees in Industrial and Systems Editor of Operations Research Letters and
Co-Director of the Stochastic Modeling, Engineering with a minor in Mathematics Associate Editor of Operations Research.
Analysis and Control (SMAC) Laboratory in from Ohio University and a PhD in He is a Senior Member of the Institute of
the Department of Industrial Engineering Industrial Engineering and Operations Industrial Engineers (IIE) and a Professional
at the University of Pittsburgh. His areas Research at the Pennsylvania State Member of the Applied Probability Society
of expertise include applied probability, University where he was an inaugural and INFORMS.
stochastic processes and stochastic Weiss Graduate Fellow and Dissertation
modeling. Dr. Kharoufeh earned B.S. and Scholar. He currently serves as Area
Biographical Sketch
Paul W. Leu is the director of the Laboratory 2012 Oak Ridge Powe Junior Faculty, 2016 UPS
for Advanced Materials at Pittsburgh (LAMP). Minority Advancement Award, and the 2016 NSF
He received his PhD at Stanford University and CAREER Award. His research has been featured in
was a postdoctoral research fellow at University Industrial Engineering Magazine, Pittsburgh NPR,
of California, Berkeley. He has received the and Pittsburgh Magazine.
lol11@pitt.edu
Stochastic Simulation
Louis Luangkesorn focuses on the development of methods for use in stochastic
simulation. His foci are input modeling to represent uncertainty and optimization
and design of simulation experiments.
For simulation optimization, Dr. Luangkesorn focuses in cases where decision Figure 1: Historical surge team use indicators derived from
emergency department electronic health records.
makers do not necessarily need a true optimal, but need a set of good
alternatives. While a true optimal is satisfying from a mathematical perspective,
decision makers who need to use the results of simulation studies often
need to balance the performance of alternatives with political or economic
considerations. Therefore creating a small set of good alternatives gives
decision makers a opportunity to use other considerations for their final choice.
Data Science
Data science is the intersection of which use models to analyze historical of fire hazard models, predictions of
mathematical and statistical modeling, data, identify relationships, and predictive production time to feed into scheduling
computer data processing skills, and trends. Results can be combined with and sequencing models, and developed
subject matter expertise. This allows for operations research models that can estimates of room use to feed into
a series of analysis such as descriptive evaluate alternative designs that optimize prediction models for outpatient clinic
models and predictive models similar objectives while balancing constraints. Dr. room use. The ability to combine multiple
to that which can be developed through Luangkesorn has used predictive models analytical tools allows for applications in
data analysis and statistical methods to reduce the computational requirements complex settings.
The majority of Dr. Maillart’s work in devices, i.e., pacemakers and defibrillators.
maintenance optimization aims to This research has investigated optimal
optimally time inspections, replacements generator replacement policies as a
and/or repairs for one or more degrading function of patient type, age and the
components in an adaptive way (vs. an a remaining battery capacity as well as
priori manner) over time as information dynamic extract/abandon policies for failed
about the underlying deterioration level cardiac leads.
of the component(s) is either (i) observed Dr. Maillart’s work to date on healthcare
directly or (ii) inferred from some signal operations has focused on organ
that is probabilistically related to the true allocation system design; vaccine
level of deterioration. clinic operations; and donor milk bank
Research in medical decision making operations. More specifically, she has
involves taking systematic approaches considered the impacts of various health-
to decision making that will improve the status updating frequencies imposed
health and clinical care of individuals by UNOS; dynamically adjusting hours
and assist health policy formation. Dr. of operation when administering doses
Maillart’s accomplishments in this area from multi-dose vials (which do not last
have focused on chronic disease screening more than a day) to maximize coverage
(e.g., personalized mammography while minimizing open vial waste; and
schedules) and organ transplantation optimally blending milk from multiple
(e.g., optimal transplantation timing). donors, batching milk for pasteurization,
Dr. Maillart’s work to date on the and dispensing milk to hospital NICUs
maintenance of implanted medical and outpatients.
devices has focused on implanted cardiac
Biographical Sketch
Lisa Maillart is a Professor and Co-Director of the Stochastic Modeling, Analysis and Control (SMAC)
Laboratory in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining
the faculty at Pitt, she served on the faculty of the Department of Operations in the Weatherhead
School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. She received her M.S. and B.S. in
industrial and systems engineering from Virginia Tech, and her PhD in industrial and operations
engineering from the University of Michigan. Her primary research interest is in sequential decision
making under uncertainty, with applications in medical decision making, health care operations and
maintenance optimization. She is a member of INFORMS, SMDM & IIE, and was recently awarded
a U.S. Scholar Fulbright Award for study in the Netherlands.
rajgopal@pitt.edu
http://www.pitt.edu/~rajgopal
Optimizing storage of
prosthetics inventory
Biographical Sketch
Jayant Rajgopal is a Professor in the interests are in mathematical modeling & optimization,
Department of Industrial Engineering at production, operations and supply chain analysis, and applications
the University of Pittsburgh. He holds a PhD of operations research to healthcare delivery. He has taught,
in Industrial & Management Engineering conducted sponsored research, published or consulted in all of
from the University of Iowa and has been these areas. Dr. Rajgopal is a senior member of IIE and INFORMS,
at Pitt since 1986. His current professional and a licensed professional engineer in the state of Pennsylvania.
My research is in the broad area of thermal properties. The work covers experimental scale measurements, and hot-cell and/or
sciences and material performance. and computational material thermophysical in-pile sensors and instrumentations. My
The scientific focus is to understand properties and measurement science and group also conduct integral and separate
the relationship between material technology. The research has applications effect experiments and modeling for fuel
microstructure change and its thermal in nuclear fuels and materials, micro- performance and safety assessment.
The Clark Lab’s research focus is in the field of dynamic systems systems with specific emphasis on mechatronic systems and
and controls. Current research focuses on cyber-physical measurements.
Cyber-Physical Systems
Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) are playing an increasingly smart urban agriculture systems; modular control hardware and
significant role in everyday life. There are expected to be 34 algorithm for a novel chemical computing system (with the Meyer
billion internet-connected devices by the year 2020, not to and Garrett-Roe groups in Chemistry); and a variety of novel
mention the many stand-alone autonomous devices. Medical sensing systems for medical applications.
devices, self-driving cars, industrial process control systems,
traffic control systems, agricultural systems, etc. are examples
of CPS that integrate physical systems with sensors, actuators,
and embedded computers. The Clark lab is currently working on a
variety of cyber-physical systems across fields including medical,
rehabilitation, and agriculture. Example research problems include
an embedded control system for a hybrid prosthetic exoskeleton
(with the Sharma research group) that enables development
and testing of advanced control algorithms; development of
tjacobs@pitt.edu
Scaling up Insights from Nanocontacts to Describe Behavior of Micro- and Figures: Left, top: Scanning probe microscopy
techniques are employed in the transmission
Macro-scale Surfaces
electron microscope.
Nano-/micro-mechanical testing is performed on rationally designed multi-point contacts Right: An example lattice-resolved image of a
– either few-asperity tips, or nominally flat surfaces with nanoscale roughness. Insights nanoscale contact during an in situ loading test.
from single nanocontacts are used to describe larger-scale behavior. Our goal is to develop Left, bottom: A micro-mechanical tester is used
quantitative, fundamental, and predictive understanding of nanoscale contact behavior, on larger samples enabling connections across
length scales.
which will enable tailored properties for advanced technologies across length scales.
Dr. Jung-Kun Lee joined the Department His primary research interest is to explore clearly indicates that his research quantity
of Mechanical Engineering and Materials the functional properties of nanostructured is far better than his peers at a same
Science (MEMS) at the University of materials to address an ever-increasing stage of the academic career. Quantitative
Pittsburgh (Pitt) in September 1, 2007, energy demand. This is a very broad and index of his research also proves that the
after spending more than 5 years at Los inter-disciplinary field. Therefore, he scientific quality of his research is very high
Alamos National Laboratory as a Technical established inter-disciplinary research and academic communities appreciate his
Staff Member as well as a Director’s- projects covering materials science, achievements. His papers on functional
funded Postdoctoral Fellow. From this electrochemistry, applied physics, and materials have been cited more than 1500
background and in concert with Pitt’s photovoltaic device fabrication. His passion times and the h-index of his papers is 21,
strategic emphasis on energy and and commitment to high quality science which shows that he has focused on
nanoscience, he has established have led to more than 130 publications important issues of communities rather
the “Advanced Functional Materials in peer-review journals and more than than trivial problems.
Laboratory.” 20 invited presentations. These numbers
sxm2@pitt.edu
Revealing the real-time atomic-scale structural evolution is central nanomechanical/electrochemical testing setup inside transmission
to understanding and controlling the mechanical degradation of electron microscope (TEM), which provides an unprecedented
high-performance engineering and energy materials. However, it in-situ atomistically-resolved approach for discovering the
has been an outstanding challenge to explore those processes previously unknown mechanisms in nanosized engineering and
due to technical difficulties. Here, we developed a novel in-situ energy materials.
des53@pitt.edu
David Schmidt received his PhD in 2009 from Carnegie Mellon University in the area Soft Tissue Biomechanics
of computational mechanics. His dissertation research developed predictive simulation Motivated by the study of pathology and
approaches tailored to the soft tissue biomechanics of cardiovascular systems. Prior to tissue engineering, researchers have
his doctoral studies, Dr. Schmidt developed a career in industry focused on the integration leveraged computational-based predictive
of engineering design, manufacturing and computational modeling. His industry models to gain insight into the complex
experience includes aerospace, defense, automotive, biomedical and manufacturing. The biomechanical response of soft tissues.
experience based developed in these industrial environments serves as a core component Simulation approaches have become an
in his approach to research. A central aim of among his research projects is to bridge essential component in cardiovascular
the gap between traditional engineering techniques and the evolving state simulation- research. Computational models have been
based technologies. His recent research activity has been in the area of middle ear used to advance basic science, develop
gas exchange mechanisms, multi-scale tissue biomechanics, robotic assisted surgery, engineered tissue alternatives and guide
biodegradable magnesium alloys and powder metal materials processing. medical device development. Dr. Schmidt’s
research has developed a constitutive
Middle Ear Gas Exchange and Pressure Regulation model based on the characterization of the
Gas exchange within the middle ear mucosa is a dominant mechanism associated with collagen microstructure as is morphology
middle ear pressure regulation. Diseased states associated with middle ear inflammation governs load-bearing tissue response. A
can be attributed to complex structure-function relationships linking mucosa-scale gas primary objective of this research has been
exchange and aggregate pressure regulation. Dr. Schmidt’s research has developed a to guide the design of engineered tissue
computational model to explore the inter-related roles of constituent tissue mechanisms scaffolds associated with aortic heart
driving gas conductance. The adopted meso-scale approach has been used to quantity valve replacement.
gas exchange as a function of mucosa thickness, capillary morphology, gas media and
blood flow characteristics. Physiologically
consistent models of capillary microstructure
have been derived from multi-photon
fluorescence imaging. A primary objective
of this research is to establish exchange
rate-limiting mechanisms under pathologic
conditions associated with middle ear
pressure dysregulation, Eustachian tube
function and the disease state of otitis media.
nis62@pitt.edu
guw8@pitt.edu
Research Activities
The main research activities of the
laboratory are to develop and apply
multi-scale simulation methods to solve
problems related to material design and
processing. Particularly, we are interested
in the development and application of
such atomistic simulation methods as
density functional theory (DFT), molecular
dynamics (MD), Monte Carlo (MC) and
kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) methods, for
revealing the microscopic processes Figure 2. (a) Nanoparticles of FePt L10 alloy. The gray
underlying the macroscopic properties and orange balls represent Pt and Fe atoms respec-
of materials. tively. (b) Charge distribution of charged Al vacancy
Figure 1. An equilibrium atomic structure of CoCrFeNi diffusion in a-Al2O3. The gray and red balls represent Al
high entropy alloy attained from the MC simulation. and O atoms respectively.
Areas of Research
Biography
Researchers at the PMMD (Physical Metallurgy and Materials Design) Lab are working
Wei Xiong is the director of the on alloy development and processing design based on fundamentals of materials
Physical Metallurgy and Materials thermodynamics and physical metallurgy. PMMD lab research covers a variety of
Design Laboratory at the University inorganic materials including but not limited to steels, high entropy alloys, Nickel and
of Pittsburgh. Dr. Xiong got his PhD Cobalt superalloys, light-weight alloys. One of the core-efforts at PMMD is to perform
degree (Alloy Thermodynamics and alloy design and processing optimization for advanced manufacturing. Both experiments
Physical Metallurgy) from KTH Royal and simulation are combined for developing new alloys and optimizing manufacturing
Institute of Technology in Sweden. processes at the PMMD lab. Regarding simulation, the so-called CALPHAD-based ICME
After his PhD research program, he methods (CALPHAD: Calculation of Phase Diagrams, ICME: Integrated Computational
stayed one year at the University of Materials Engineering) are applied to understand the mechanism of process-structure-
Wisconsin – Madison (2012-2013) property relation in different alloy systems and their processing. The experimental
before joining Northwestern University techniques cover thermal analysis, microstructure characterization, mechanical property
as a research associate for alloy measurements, thermal analysis, and alloy manufacturing such as casting and additive
design research (2013-2016). Using the manufacturing. The PMMD lab performs materials manufacturing using a systems
CALPHAD-based ICME methods, Dr. design approach to develop new materials to further increase the efficiency of advanced
Xiong works in materials design and manufacturing of high-performance materials.
process optimization, which covers a
wide range of inorganic materials, and
focuses on new materials/processing
design and phase transformations.
Xiong serves as an associate editor
of journal: Science and Technology of
Advanced Materials (impact factor:
4.787, Year 2018). Since joined Pitt
in Sept 2016, Dr. Xiong has been
funded by NASA, ONR, DOE-NEUP,
DOE-NETL, STTR and NSF performing
research on additive manufacturing
and new materials development with
his expertise on materials design and
processing optimization.
Media links on Dr. Wei Xiong’s
research:
https://bit.ly/pmmdam1
https://bit.ly/pmmdam2
Mission
Created in 2015, Pitt’s Office of Economic
Partnerships (OEP) was formed to create
and implement an economic development
framework that enhances the University’s
mission to advance teaching, research, and
public service. The framework is designed to
increase Pitt’s ability to partner on economic
opportunities, connect the University to the
global economy, and accelerate growth in
the regional economy. The framework is
built on several strategies. Key Initiatives
Corporate Engagement Access to Core Facilities and Labs
OEP functions as an ambassador to the The fee-for-service partnership program helps businesses access Pitt’s world-class
business community, helping companies research, facilities, and faculty expertise to make their businesses more competitive.
leverage Pitt’s world-class resources to That, in turn, facilitates knowledge transfer from Pitt to industry, government and non-
gain a competitive advantage. That includes profits in the fields of science, technology and health, as well as generates additional
research services, product development, revenue for the university.
licensing our IP, recruiting Pitt students, GRID Institute
developing employee training programs,
Pitt’s Energy Grid Research and Infrastructure Development (GRID) Institute is a
increasing brand visibility on campus and
global consortium focused on modernizing the power grid and energy infrastructure in
participating in community development.
Pittsburgh, the U.S. and ultimately the world. OEP helped launch the project in 2016 with
Global Partnerships $5 million in funding and 20,000 square feet of laboratory space at the Energy Innovation
Currently, the University of Pittsburgh Center in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.
has 235 cooperation agreements in 73 Life Science Opportunity Analysis
countries aimed at finding answers to
global challenges through cutting-edge As part of its goal of develop Pittsburgh’s potential as a biotech hub, OEP engaged an
research and problem-solving. Partnership economic development consulting firm to analyze the region’s current strengths and
models include research, commercialization weaknesses in the life sciences and develop a growth strategy. The report concluded
centers, collaborations, faculty exchange, Pitt’s strength in healthcare and research can be amplified by expanding the region’s
joint research agreements, clinical research life sciences ecosystem.
support, community engagement and Brookings Report
strategic philanthropy. The Brookings Institute studied alternatives for growing the biotech industry in the
Venture Capital Pittsburgh region and it recommended developing innovation clusters, supporting high-
OEP promotes Pitt startups to venture growth entrepreneurs and increasing workforce development efforts. InnovatePGH, a
capital funds, facilitates introductions and public private partnership, is now working to implement the Brookings recommendations.
opens doors for funding opportunities. Innovation District
One resource for OEP supports is LifeX
OEP has played an active role in founding The Pittsburgh Innovation District, which is
Labs, a life science accelerator that
centered on the Oakland neighborhood and bridges innovation assets in the Strip
provides resources and expertise to help
District, Lawrenceville, East Liberty + Bakery Square, Hazelwood Green, the South Side,
entrepreneurs quickly move their ideas
Uptown, Downtown, the North Side and beyond. InnovatePGH is working to advance
from the benchtop to the bedside.
the Brooking’s Innovation District project.
Mission
My Lab is interested in the bio
Objective 1
signal modeling and computing.
We collaborate with many other Big Data for Healthcare
researchers in medical school and use To build novel tools to fuse all available
the bio signals (e.g. EEG, MRI) to study clinical biomarkers, images, genomes,
different brain diseases (Alzheimer’s across data types, diseases and continents
disease, Parkinson disease, bipolar worldwide to discover optimal biomarkers
disorder, 22qDS, depression, TBI and for different brain diseases.
stroke etc). Our mission is to identify
the possible non-invasive imaging
biomarkers to assist the clinical
diagnosis and lower the healthcare Objective 2
costs. Mapping Brain Modular Longitudinal Pattern
Mapping brain functions, activities and clinical measures to each modular structure and
create a thorough modular progression model for different brain diseases and normal
aging for each gender
Objective 3
Build Genetics-Modular-Function Correspondence
Traditional imaging genetics focus on finding the genetic correlations with some measures
from voxel level or ROI level. To develop a computation framework for mapping the high
dimensional genetic-modular correspondence and associate this correspondence with
brain functions and diseases.
Objectives
Established in 2008, the Center is a unifying entity for faculty members to collaborate
with each other, with regional energy industry leaders, and with government agencies
to address the many challenges
and opportunities associated with
the generation, transmission, and
utilization of energy. The Center
Mission is ideally situated to accomplish
• Facilitate campus-wide energy-related this mission, given the Pittsburgh
research programs and initiatives region’s abundant natural resources
• Support educational program and leadership in the development
of clean energy technologies and
development and curriculum across
energy infrastructure, the presence of
energy disciplines Dr. Gregory Reed (right) in the Electric Power Systems Lab
leading global energy companies, and
• Promote energy-related research engaged community and government
and education through outreach and constituents. As the Center for Energy
coordination of activities grows, along with the development of
• “Rise to the Challenge” of positioning the Pittsburgh region’s energy nexus,
our region for the future in the energy it will attract and train high-quality
sector, working collaboratively with undergraduate and graduate students,
industry and community partners postdoctoral researchers, and visiting
scientists, all of whom are important
elements to evolving and sustaining the
Focus Areas of Energy Research Center as an internationally prominent,
• Resources and Development university-based energy program. Dr. Götz Veser (right) in the Catalytic Reaction Engineering Lab
Mission
The mission of the Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE) is to enhance the ability of the tenure
track faculty in the SSoE to navigate the tenure period – not just to manage it, but rather to
exit this period with a foundation for continued academic excellence and leadership.
Summary
Senior Mentoring Monthly lunch meetings Visibility Consultation
As of October 2017, 27 junior faculty Committees of LE2AP Junior faculty and • Director of Marketing
• 4 senior faculty senior faculty/administrators (visibility, awards) Strategic Planning
are enrolled in LE2AP with a combined • Meet once per term • Mentoring Committee Consult with
76 faculty mentors drawn from the Associate Dean for
Tenure & Promotion Research
Swanson School of Engineering (48), Process OUTCOMES
departments at Pitt outside of the Lecture/Discussion
PRODUCTIVE RESEARCHERS HIGH VISIBILITY RESEARCHERS
SSoE (13), UPMC (7) and engineering Journal publications, Funding, Promotion Letters, Awards,
departments at Carnegie Mellon PhD graduates Invited Talks, Internal Visibility
University (8). To date, 62 mentoring MISSION
committee meetings have been held. EFFECTIVE TEACHERS ACADEMIC LEADERS
OMET (teaching) scores, Junior Faculty with Outstanding Research Programs,
The success of the CFE rests on the Awards, Efficient Class Promotion Packages and Foundations Review Panels, Session
commitment of these faculty mentors Preparation for Future Success Chairs, Editorships
as well as its close collaboration with
offices in the SSoE including the Office ENHANCED ACADEMIC COMMUNITY
New Faculty Guidebook
of Research, the Office of Diversity and Workshops
of Resources, People
• Strategy Planning
the Engineering Education Research and Timelines
• Grant Writing
Center (EERC). Engineering Education • Interpersonal Skills-(MBT)
Research Center- Teaching Office of Research: Grant • Public Speaking
Effectiveness, Outreach Library & Internal Review • Leadership Effectiveness
The Center for Medical Innovation (CMI) commercial products meeting the needs have primary responsibility for guiding the
is an interdisciplinary program housed of healthcare delivery. research and educational missions of CMI.
within the Department of Bioengineering. CMI’s educational mission to train the next They are assisted by a multidisciplinary
The Center’s purpose is to stimulate, generation of medical product innovators, team of engineering faculty, clinical faculty,
guide, and promote the development managers, and developers is met through and representatives of the Innovation
and commercialization of technological the Master of Bioengineering/ Medical Institute. An industry Board of Advisors
innovations to improve health care. The Product Engineering curriculum. The provides input into CMI’s direction.
CMI provides an organizational structure 30-credit MS program, established in
that links faculty, students, and clinicians 2012, is aimed at providing clinical project
across the University of Pittsburgh experience, introduction to new product
through collaboration among the Swanson methodologies considered state of the art
School of Engineering (SSoE), Schools of in industry, and networking opportunities
the Health Sciences, the Katz Business with regional players in the medical product
School, the School of Law, the Coulter development industry. Most of our program
Translational Research Partnership, and graduates go on to careers in medical
the Innovation Institute. As of 2018 more product development, marketing, regulatory
than 60 early-stage projects have received affairs, consulting, and entrepreneurship.
seed funds totaling $1.2 million from
CMI out of 240 competitive proposals Projects identified and funded by CMI
considered since program inception in have resulted in partnerships between
2012. Nine of these clinical translation most of the engineering departments at
projects have attracted significant external SSoE and many of the clinical disciplines
investment for commercialization, and all at the Schools of Health Sciences.
Dr. Alan D. Hirschman, PhD Dr. Kilichan Gurleyik, DSc
have resulted in significant intellectual Additional outreach efforts have resulted
property development. Other projects have in partnerships with Carnegie Mellon
successfully competed for large external University and the Allegheny Health
awards from government and private Network. The CMI has contributed to
foundations as a result of the CMI Early career development of our graduates by
Stage Seed Grant Funding Program. A collaborating with industry partners to
few projects have resulted in new place students in jobs and internships.
company formation. Dr. Alan D. Hirschman, Professor of
CMI’s research mission is to serve as a Bioengineering, serves as CMI’s Executive
“matchmaker” between the engineering Director. After a career of more than
faculty in the Swanson School and the 30 years in research and industry, Dr.
clinical faculty of the Schools of Health Hirschman joined the faculty of the
Sciences. CMI catalyzes the development Department of Bioengineering in 2011.
of such partnerships between engineers, He and his colleague, Dr. Kilichan Gurleyik,
clinicians, and students who have interests Assistant Professor of Bioengineering and
in translating their applied research into CMI’s Associate Director of Education,
Vision Mission
To provide the anchor for translating University of Pittsburgh • To identify, select, develop, and commercialize promising
biomedical and engineered technologies to commercialization. technologies originating from faculty sponsored biomedical
The Coulter Translational Research Program (Coulter) envisions itself research that address significant unmet clinical needs and
playing a key leadership role in translational biomedical research, promise to improve patient care worldwide.
education, and commercialization, making significant contributions to • To create a culture of innovation and entrepreneurial thinking
enhancing healthcare, educating future innovators and entrepreneurs, across the biomedical engineering community by uniting faculty
and promoting economic development in our region. and students from engineering or the physical sciences with
clinicians from the Schools of Health Sciences, students from
the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business (Katz) and the
School of Law, and members of the business community.
Objectives Summary
Translational Research and Commercial Preparedness. Since the Program’s funding by the Since its inception, the Coulter Program has
Wallace H. Coulter Foundation in 2011, along with additional matching funds from the Swanson established a new model to assure that Pitt’s
School of Engineering (ENGR), the Schools of the Health Sciences, and the Innovation Institute, world-class biomedical research ideas become
Coulter has accelerated the translation of new technologies to improve healthcare and address commercial solutions to real-world problems.
challenging unmet clinical needs. Our primary objective is to advance projects toward commercial In its short history, the Coulter Program has:
endpoints by way of a unique risk reducing process comprised of business and stakeholder • Attracted over 218 applications covering
analysis, mentorship, and hands-on project management. medical devices, drug delivery systems,
Competitive Grants. The Program also awards competitive grants to deserving research teams and diagnostics
that have advanced their technologies to the point where they may be considered for license or • Funded 36 projects and 71 principal
new business formation. Coulter aims to further reduce technical and business adoption risk by investigators with an awarded total of
funding pre-clinical and clinical work that may pave the way for commercial and clinical adoption. over $3.5 million in direct grant support
Collaboration. We view ourselves as part of the continuum of innovation from basic research to • Enabled formation of SEVEN companies
commercial translation. Housed within the Bioengineering Department of the Swanson School of with $13 million in professional funding
Engineering, we collaborate closely with the Center for Medical Innovation (CMI) and the Clinical
• Enabled granting of FOUR licenses, and
Translational Science Institute (CTSI) that support pilot projects, which often then advance through
four additional licenses expected before
the Coulter Program. Ultimately, we work with the Innovation Institute to help assure a successful
end of FY2019
transition to commercial enterprises. Our objective is to continue to strengthen these relationships
and partner with other programs across campus. • Generated an additional $14 million in
follow-on grant funding to the University
Education. Our educational objective is to engage faculty and students in the process of
innovation and entrepreneurship by way of our rigorous and immersive process. Scientific and • Directly and indirectly impacted 125+
clinical PI’s work together with fellows and students to develop regulatory, reimbursement, IP students and 35 departments across
and business strategies. We also recruit graduate students from ENGR, Katz and Law schools to Pitt
assist project teams during 14-weeks of Coulter Coaching intended to align the technology-based
solutions with real world needs.
Summary
• Technical Specifications: Maximum power capacity: The Workbenches: Six custom-designed workbenches are
480-V, 200-A, and 75-kVA. innovative features of the Laboratory. The workbenches were
• Core Equipment: Main Electrical infrastructure, motor designed, prototyped, and tested by Eaton and Pitt throughout
control centers, switchboard, protection, M-G sets, UPS, 2013, and are now integrated into the overall laboratory
data-servers, power factor correction, isolation transformers, environment, and are compatible with the other power
and other miscellaneous components. system equipment and components.
• External Components (as of 2014): Solar PV panels, Each bench is capable of functioning as a stand-alone entity.
donated by John A. Swanson, PhD ‘66 and located on the The overall objective of the workbench design is to seamlessly
Benedum Hall roof, are integrated into the lab (including combine the configurable load banks and programmable logic
both AC and DC interfaces). controller (PLC) into the workstations, providing a wide array of
functionality, while minimizing space within the facility. Each
• Future Enhancements: Provisions have also been made bench includes resistive, inductive, capacitive, and harmonic
for incorporating a gas-fired generator and potentially a loads, with auxiliary connections for other lads and the capability
micro-wind turbine. A sag generator has been integrated to feed an external motor control center (MCC). Advanced
into the main infrastructure, and a surge generator is metering devices are integrated to communicate readings
under construction. throughout the entirety of the lab and allow students to
clearly view all of the electrical phenomena within the bench.
Mission
The Center strives to engage faculty in the research efforts at the University. The overarching
integration of research-based practices to enhance goals of the EERC are to:
their teaching, as well as to engage faculty in 1. Nucleate the Swanson School of Engineering’s
utilizing research to better understand learning of (SSoE) strong research programs to educational
engineering. The vision of the EERC is to expand innovations at the graduate, undergraduate,
engineering education research and produce new and K12 levels.
approaches to learning that engage students.
2. Conduct high quality engineering education
The Engineering Education Research Center’s (EERC) research.
mission is twofold: 1) enhance the teaching and
learning of engineering within the Swanson School 3. Foster opportunities for faculty and future faculty
of Engineering; and 2) expand engineering education development in teaching excellence.
Human Factors Engineering Laboratory Joel M. Haight, PhD, P.E., CIH, CSP
jhaight@pitt.edu
Mission
The mission of the Human Movement & biomechanical and postural control physicians (geriatricians, neurologists and
Balance Laboratory (HMBL) is fall and principles that govern human movement, psychiatrists), and physical/occupational
musculoskeletal injury prevention in balance during standing/walking, and therapists work in close collaboration to
healthy and clinical young/elderly adult performance of occupational tasks. A achieve our research goals. HMBL is a state
populations. We achieve these goals by multidisciplinary group of researchers of the art space designed and equipped to
gaining a thorough understanding of the including biomechanical engineers, analyze the dynamics of human motion.
Objectives
Current research projects include a wide range of experimental
studies examining fall prevention following external disturbances
such as slipping or tripping, prosthetics, ergonomic-related
research, cognitive research and imaging applications in various
population types. In conjunction with experimental studies,
biomechanical computer modeling is used to gain a greater
understanding of the impact of environmental and human factors
on the risk of falls and injury.
Summary
Our laboratory is a full gait analysis facility specifically designed
to conduct locomotion studies related to postural control but
also capable of capturing small finger movements involved
in typing. Three dimensional motions and foot forces as well
as electromyographic data can be collected during walking
or other daily tasks including activities such as stopping,
turning, multitasking, etc. We are also equipped with an
electromyography and accelerometer system, a Biodex strength
machine, a Biolog heart rate and skin conductance monitor. The
motion data is collected and synchronized with ground reaction
forces and other biomechanical data. Thus, this system allows
the collection of all gait variables required to provide a complete
description of whole body biomechanics. Motion capture is
The two images above are examples of the biomechanical analysis and
possible on our level walkway, uneven walkway, ramp, uneven
computer modeling able to be done to better understand the factors involved
ramp, or stairs. We are also able elicit perturbations of slips, in normal gait, slips, trips, and falls.
stumbles, and trips.
Mission
Established in 2003, the Mascaro Center for Sustainable and improve quality of life. MCSI has a holistic approach
Innovation promotes the incorporation of sustainable to sustainability. Through the integration of curriculum,
engineering concepts and practices through the University of groundbreaking research and social engagement, the Center
Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. Its mission is to engages students, faculty and staff as well as everyday
create and nurture innovations that benefit the environment, citizens to explore and experience sustainability in practice
positively impact the University and community-at-large and performance.
What’s In a Name
The Mascaro Center was named in honor of regions leading sustainable development and outcomes that exist outside the lab and directly
John C. “Jack” Mascaro, founder of Mascaro construction companies. MCSI is guided by Mr. impact the community.
Construction Company, LP, one of the Pittsburgh Mascaro’s philosophy to pursue sustainable
Mission
The MMCL supports research and innovation at the University of materials and associated changes across microscopic to near-
of Pittsburgh and beyond by providing access to state-of-the-art atomic length scales. Characterizations can also include locally
experimental tools, effective techniques, and expertise of its resolved measurements of materials composition, structure,
personnel for complete materials micro-characterization. This micro- to nano-mechanical properties, and specialized specimen
encompasses visualization of the surface and internal structure preparation needs.
Facility Description
The MMCL is located on the 5th floor of Benedum Hall and microscopy (OIM) and EDS capable of imaging with 1nm
is part of the Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science (1.3nm) at 15kV (1kV) without beam deceleration and 1nm at
Department, but is also coordinated with the PINSE NFCF. The 1kV with beam deceleration.
MMCL capabilities can be accessed by use-request via the web- • The FEI Tecnai G2 F20 S-Twin is FEG-TEM offering atomic
based system FOM at https://fom.nano.pitt.edu/fom/welcome. column resolution (0.11nm info-limit) in combination with a
Current characterization resources of the MMCL include a specimen tilt range of ≤±35˚, and is capable of forming intense
versatile X-ray diffractometer (XRD), two complementing scanning electron probes as small as ≈0.5nm in diameter for composition
electron microscopes (SEM), and an analytical high-resolution and diffraction analysis. Equipped with a 2kx2k CCD camera,
transmission electron microscope (TEM), a multi-mode scanning EDS, and precession-electron-diffraction assisted automated
probe microscope (SPM), and a nano-mechanical testing system. crystal orientation mapping (NanoMegas Topspin) it permits
Additionally, a complete suite of modern sample preparation analysis of microstructural and micro-chemical changes,
equipment is accessible in the Fischione Center of Excellence for crystal defects, as well as mapping of texture, strain and phase
EM-sample Preparation. fractions at micrometer to sub-nanometer length scales.
Instrument Descriptions • The DI Dimension 3100 SPM offers multi-modal surface
• The XRD (Empyrean, PANalytical) offers non-destructive morphology and property characterization (AFM/STM/MFM).
characterization of solutions for solids, fluids, thin films and
• The Hysitron TI900 Triboindenter nano-mechanical test system
nano-materials with Cu- or Co-K-alpha X-ray beams regarding
offers nano-Newton resolution depth-resolved measurements
phase constitution, crystallographic texture, crystal quality,
of hardness and elastic modulus. Normal (hardness) and lateral
lattice strains and/or nanoparticle size distributions and shape.
(friction) force loading configurations provide a sub-micron
• The JEOL JSM 6610-LV is a low-vacuum (Environmental) SEM scale testing arena with nanometer resolution in-situ SPM
equipped for surface imaging and elemental composition imaging.
measurements by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS)
• The Fischione Lab uniquely offers access to world-class
with sub-micron resolution.
expertise and a complete suite of state-of-the-art equipment
• The FEI Apreo Hi-Vac is a field-emission gun (FEG) high- for high-fidelity electron microscopy sample preparation by
resolution SEM optimized for crystal orientation and phase conventional mechanical, electro-chemical, Argon-ion-beam
mapping by back-scatter diffraction (EBSD) orientation imaging and plasma-based approaches.
Contact the academic Director of the MMCL, Professor Jörg Wiezorek, e-mail at Wiezorek@pitt.edu, or
call 412-624-0122, if you are interested or have questions regarding the MMCL use and offerings.
Objectives
Mission
There are over 255 McGowan affiliated faculty, all of whom are independently recognized
The McGowan Institute serves as for their respective expertise, who have elected to work in multidisciplinary teams for the
the focal point for the University’s advancement of the core sciences, the development of innovative devices, procedures
leading engineering, scientific and and clinical protocols, and the pursuit of rapid commercial transfer of new technologies
clinical faculty who are working in the related to regenerative medicine.
areas of tissue engineering, cellular
Many McGowan affiliated faculty are clinically active, seeing patients every day. These
therapies, and medical devices.
clinicians work with the collaborating engineers and scientists in the identification of
The Institute’s mission is research needs and the pursuit of solutions for such needs. This bidirectional clinical
• To provide a national center translation helps keep projects “on-target” and expedites the adaptation of new
of expertise in regenerative technologies in the clinic.
medicine focused on developing Also critical to the mission
and delivering therapies is the education and training
that reestablish tissue and of the next generation of
organ function impaired by scientists, clinicians and
disease, trauma or congenital engineers who will be
abnormalities; carrying the field forward
• To foster the generation toward the ultimate goal of
of scientific knowledge in improving the quality of life
regenerative medicine and to share and the reduction in health
that knowledge with researchers, care costs. Graduates who
clinicians and the public through are mentored by McGowan
educational activities, training faculty are eagerly recruited by
and publications; commercial, academic and governmental entireties. Training includes opportunities in
the laboratory as well as in clinical settings, a combination that is not available at many
• To educate and train scientists
other institutions.
and engineers to pursue
technologies related to Technologies developed by McGowan affiliated faculty has resulted in the formation
regenerative medicine, and of 28 companies. These start-ups now employ over 480 people and have raised over
train a generation of clinicians $600 million in external funding. These companies are an essential component of the
in the implementation of McGowan Institute commitment of rapidly moving technologies from the lab bench
regenerative therapies, and; to the bedside.
• To support the commercialization
Summary
of technologies in regenerative
medicine and thereby accelerate The McGowan Institute eagerly seeks opportunities for collaboration with academic,
the translation of research governmental and commercial partners. The Institute Director is William R. Wagner, PhD,
discoveries to clinical who is a professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, with joint
implementation and patient appointments in the Departments of Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering. For more
benefit. information, please see www.mcgowan.pitt.edu.
Mission
The vision of our ERC, led by Pitt PI William Wagner, PhD, is to
transform current medical and surgical treatments by creating “smart”
implants to improve treatments for orthopedic, craniofacial, neural and
cardiovascular ailments, coupled with the development of a vibrant,
diverse workforce well-prepared for the multidisciplinary and global
challenges and opportunities of the new millennium. The major goal is
to revolutionize metallic biomaterials (RMB) and smart coatings with
built-in responsive biosensory capabilities which can adapt to biological
changes, to create novel bio-functional Engineered Systems. The
ERC lead institution is North Carolina A&T State University (NCAT) [a
historically black college/university] with core partner institutions, the
University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and the University of Cincinnati (UC), global
research partner Hannover Medical School (MHH) and other global and
national partners that include industrial partners, innovators, and state
and local government entrepreneurial networks.
Intellectual Merit
Through the intertwining of carefully- ES3) are driven by three (3) overarching testing (Green Team). These three thrust
planned, cutting edge research on a research thrust areas (color coded in our areas (Red, Blue and Green Teams) work
global level among partner institutions the strategic plan) comprised of enabling harmoniously to generate revolutionary
ERC-RMB is creating engineered systems technologies and fundamental knowledge: breakthroughs in multiple areas of patient
(ESs) related to: 1) ES1-Craniofacial Thrust #1: New materials development care leading to the development of medical
and Orthopedic Applications, 2) ES2- (Red Team); Thrust #2: Materials systems R&D - devices and applications
Cardiovascular and Thoracic Devices and processing/characterization and modeling (Grey Team) in ES1, ES 2, and ES3.
3) ES3- Responsive Biosensors and Neural (chemical, physical, mechanical, modeling)
Applications. The three (3) ESs (ES1, ES2, (Blue Team) and Thrust #3: Biocompatibility
Broader Impact
The strategic plan for education and outreach guides all aspects students and teachers, counselors, parents and administrators.
of education and outreach initiatives. Activities are designed for Diversity is being promoted through strategic partnerships with
effective teaming within and across the ERC partner campuses, community colleges, minority serving institutions and key NSF
leveraging the key competencies and constituencies of the ERC’s HRD programs. Graduate courses on topics relevant to ERC-RMB
staff and students, and are assessed formatively and summatively. are being successfully offered in a trans-ERC distance learning
Dissemination is effectively achieved through relevant format. Our highly effective seminar series continued for both
conferences and workshops. The human resources pipeline ERC and Bioengineering students on converging technologies,
development to recruit outstanding students into the University translational research and education and the innovation
education component is achieved through broad-based outreach ecosystem.
programs targeted at K-12 school students, community college
Mission
The mission of the Orthopaedic be elucidated and the roles of the Laboratory occupies 1800 sq ft in the
Robotics Laboratory is the prevention of bony and soft tissues assessed. The Center for Bioengineering (CNBIO) and is
degenerative joint disease by improving technology in the laboratory includes a collaboration between the Department
diagnostic, repair, and rehabilitation novel robotic systems and the lab serves of Orthopaedic Surgery and Department
procedures for musculoskeletal injuries as a multi-disciplinary CORE facility of Bioengineering.
using state-of-the-art robotic technology. with collaboration promoted between
Thus, diarthrodial joint function will investigators. The Orthopaedic Robotics
Robotic Technology
The MJT Model FRS2010 is a six-axis test robot with a compact workspace and high
stiffness. The hybrid control system that uses position and force feedback is quite
robust and allows a wide range of applications. Operators can modify every control
parameter for their desired purpose. Thus, the MJT can be customized easily. Other
advantages of the MJT Model FRS2010 are portabIility, low maintenance costs, universal
programming language, and realistic loading conditions. This robotic technology can also
be used to examine the function of multiple joints such as the knee, glenohumeral joint,
acromioclavicular joint, spine, elbow, hip and ankle.
These capabilities are enhanced by supporting equipment that can measure joint contact
pressures; tissue deformations and forces during joint loading; and tissue properties.
State-of-the-art fluoroscopy, ultrasound, and arthroscopy systems are available. In
addition, the laboratory includes the Shoulder Testing Apparatus r4 (STAR4) that allows
simulation of muscle forces at the glenohumeral joint and measures resulting motion
and joint contact forces. Recently, this device has been upgraded to include the capability
to test knees.
Objectives
Mission
The primary objective of the NFCF facility is to provide the infrastructure, equipment,
Founded in 2002 on the University and staff support that enables faculty, as well as academic and corporate partners, to
of Pittsburgh’s Oakland campus, undertake competitive research and development in the growing number of fields that
the Gertrude E. and John M. rely on nanofabrication and materials characterization. NFCF is a University shared-user
Petersen Institute of NanoScience facility located in Benedum Hall. This 4,000 square foot facility serves the nanofabrication
and Engineering (PINSE) fosters and characterization needs of internal and external users by providing state-of-the-art
collaboration and innovation for equipment that is core to nanoscience and nanotechnology research. NFCF is designed
members of the University community, to support fabrication and characterization of nanoscale materials and structures, and
as well as researchers throughout the integration of devices at all length scales. The NFCF Characterization facility houses
region. To support the mission, PINSE state-of-the art electron microscopy and spectroscopy equipment: X-ray diffractometer
established the Nanoscale Fabrication (XRD), two electron microscopes (JEOL JSM 6510LV and Zeiss FEG-SEM Sigma500V) that
and Characterization Facility (NFCF) are equipped with Oxford EDAX detectors for elemental composition, two transmission
in 2006 through an endowment by electron microscopes (JEOL 2100F STEM and Environmental Hitachi TEM H9500) that are
alumnus Gertrude E. and John M. equipped with EDAX detectors for elemental composition; the JEOL 2100F has a field-
Petersen. The NFCF mission is to emission electron source tool with EELS capabilities. In addition, the facility provides
provide state-of-the-art characterization an electron probe micro analyzer (JEOL JXA-8530F EPMA), scanning probe microscopy,
and fabrication services and scientific ellipsometer, FTIR microscopy, and Raman microscopy tools. The NFCF fabrication facility
expertise for University of Pittsburgh houses advanced equipment with core nano-level (20 nm) capabilities for fabrication,
researchers, as well as others in including electron-beam lithography system (Raith e-line 30KV), dual-beam system (FEI
academics, government, and industry. Scios FIB/SEM DB), plasma etching, thin film deposition (e-beam evaporation, sputtering,
chemical vapor deposition, and pulsed laser deposition), soft lithography (Suss MJB3 and
Quintel 4000 mask aligners), and more.
SEM image of Pt nano-particles on Au prisms (Jill Millstone group). Optical image of free standing IR detector (Minhee Yun group).
Mission
Our mission at the RFID Center of Excellence is to be a unique translated into seven companies, with over 135 invention
workforce, rooted in a research and learning environment that is disclosures, 15 innovation awards, 31 U.S. and five foreign patents
strongly connected with industry. As the landscape of engineering with more than 25 named student inventors on U.S. Patents, 10
design evolves, we will continue to address critical challenges licenses and 15 options, and two international awards. The Center
within that landscape by meeting the needs of the regional also worked to establish the basis of the 915MHz RFID standards
manufacturing industry. The RFID Center of Excellence was for the U.S. Department of Defense. Currently, the RFID Center
formed in 2005 and is comprised of a team of knowledgeable focuses on a wide range of translational and theoretical research
professionals with extensive expertise in engineering. Products with topics from civil engineering to biomedical engineering.
and technologies developed by the RFID Center have been
Objectives
Research efforts at the RFID Center involve a wide range of industrial, civil
and medical collaborations generally involving the applications of wireless
technology. The RFID Center has collaborated with the Pennsylvania Department
of Transportation to develop a system to monitor the depth of scour, or the erosion
of riverbed material, at bridges throughout the state. A real-time location system
(RTLS) was developed for tracking of assets inside a building where GPS cannot be
accurately implemented. The RTLS system works over the existing wireless networks
in the building to communicate the assets location to a host server. The RFID Center
developed a Product Emitting Numbering Identification (PENI) tag. The PENI Tag was
Pitt’s contribution towards drastically reducing both the cost and size of RFID tags
and making RFID more commercially viable technology compared with bar codes.
Several past and current projects have focused on wireless powering and
communication with implantable medical devices. Past biomedical research
projects include wireless powering designs for deep brain stimulation, vagus nerve
stimulation, and muscle stimulation. Current projects include a wirelessly powered
implantable Doppler flow meter, the wireless identification of orthopedic implants,
and transcutaneous communication with implantable biosensors. These projects
involve device engineering along with investigations into electromagnetic propagation
through tissue and electromagnetic interference with pacemakers. Additional medical
related projects at the RFID Center include a remote monitoring system for medication
tracking through a wireless pill dispenser, and wireless programming of implantable Top: Model of a biosensor body network that communicates
with a smartphone to aid in clinical diagnosis.
cardiac devices and wireless communication between pulse oximeters.
Middle Left: Simulated model of Ortho-tag’s proprietary touch
Summary probe for transcutaneous identification of orthopedic implants.
Bottom Left: Simulation model of a human knee developed
The RFID Center of Excellence is a state of the art research group dedicated to for Ortho-tag.
solving cutting edge technical problems across a range of industries, such as civil,
Middle Right: The PENI Tag, dwarfed by its eponym, a
biomedical, and electrical engineering. A world leader in RFID and wireless technology U.S. penny.
applications, the Center is devoted to translational research, working closely with Bottom Right: Implantable Doppler flow meter ready
governmental agencies, private industry, and the entrepreneurial community. for surgery.
Facility Description
The Watkins-Haggart Structural The laboratory maintains a number of To date, fatigue tests totaling over 120
Engineering Laboratory is the facility at computer controlled data acquisition million load cycles have been conducted.
the heart of the experimental structural systems that allow for the automated The largest tests conducted by the
engineering research efforts at the reading and recording of over 130 discrete Watkins-Haggart lab team where the 2006
University of Pittsburgh. This unique channels of instrumentation. The lab has tests of a pair of 90 foot long (28 m), 70 ton
facility is located in the sub-basement of full-scale nondestructive evaluation long prestressed girders recovered from
Benedum Hall on the main campus of the equipment, a digital image correlation the collapsed Lake View Drive Bridge. The
University of Pittsburgh in Oakland. The system, and field-testing equipment suit- lab has also conducted extensive research
Lab is a 4000 ft2 (370 m2) high-bay testing able for a variety of in situ test programs. for PennDOT, NCHRP and various other
facility with a massive reaction floor. The Since 2004, the laboratory has specialized public and private agencies. Directed by
high-bay testing area is serviced by a 10 in conducting large scale fatigue testing at Kent A. Harries, PhD, FACI, P.Eng.
ton radio controlled bridge crane and load ranges up to 50,000 pounds (220 kN).
other heavy material handling equipment.
The information printed in this document was accurate to the best of our knowledge at the
time of printing and is subject to change at any time at the University’s sole discretion.
The University of Pittsburgh is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution. 02/2019