IMG Seminar

This week, the speakers for the IMG Seminar are:

This week, the speaker for the IMG Seminar is Dr. Ant Ural on Low dimensional nanoscale materials and devices:

This week, the speaker for the IMG Seminar is Dr. Jennifer A. Nichols on Predictive Biomechanical Simulations: Applications to the Musculoskeletal System:

This week, the speakers for the IMG Seminar are:

• Dr. Chelsea Simmons on Cells as Microsystems
• Jacob Amontree (Dr. Fan's group) on Capillary Force Driven Single-Cell Spiking Apparatus for Studying Circulating Tumor Cell

Cells as Microsystems. Successful integration of MEMS with biomedicine requires an intimate understanding of biophysiological processes. Dr. Simmons will describe tools at the micro and mesoscale she uses to study these processes, including cells themselves! Specific applications in cancer and regeneration will be highlighted. 

Capillary Force Driven Single-Cell Spiking Apparatus for Studying Circulating Tumor Cell. The characterization of single cells within heterogeneous populations has great impact on both biomedical sciences and cancer research. By investigating cellular compositions on a broad scale, pertinent outliers may be lost in the sample set. Alternatively, an investigation focused on the behavior of specific cells, such as circulating tumor cells (CTCs), will reveal genetic biomarkers or phenotypic characteristics associated with cancer and metastasis. On average, CTC concentration in peripheral blood is extremely low, as few as one to two per billion of healthy blood cells. Consequently, the critical element lacking in many methods of CTC detection is accurate cell capture efficiency at low concentrations. To simulate CTC isolation, researchers usually spike small amounts of tumor cells to healthy blood for separation. However, spiking tumor cells at extremely low concentrations is challenging in a standard laboratory setting. We report our study on an innovative apparatus and method designed for low-cost, precise, and replicable single-cell spiking (SCS).

This week, the speaker for the IMG Seminar is Dr. Erin Patrick on Applied Computational Modeling: More-than-Moore Devices to Neurotechnology

Computational modeling is often used for design of devices, however; it also provides one the ability better explain experimental results. This presentation highlights some of my work using modeling and simulation to better understand the performance of two dissimilar devices: Gallium Nitride heterostructure transistors and peripheral nerve interfaces. 

This week, the speaker for the IMG Seminar is Dr. Alina Zare on Addressing spatial uncertainty during remote sensing data analysis.

Most supervised machine learning algorithms assume that each training data point is paired with an accurate training label (for classification) or value (for regression). However, obtaining accurate training label information is often time consuming and expensive, making it infeasible for large data sets, or may simply be impossible to provide given the physics of the problem. Furthermore, human annotators may be inconsistent when labeling a data set, providing inherently imprecise label information.

In the case of problems with imprecise label information, Multiple Instance Learning (MIL) methods are required. The Multiple Instance Adaptive Cosine Estimator (MI-ACE) approach is one of the few MIL methods that can estimate a representative target concept. In this presentation, an introduction to the MI-ACE approach will be provided along with a description of several MIL-based algorithms and results on a variety of data types and applications.

This week, the speakers for the IMG Seminar are:

• Mark Yanchisin (EH&S) on Non-traditional safety
• Kangfu Chen (Dr. Fan's group) on A filter array regulated microflow (FARM) chip for circulating tumor cell isolation

A filter array regulated microflow (FARM) chip for circulating tumor cell isolation . Circulating tumor cells (CTC) are cancer cells in the circulating system shredded from the primary tumor. CTCs have been considered as important biomarkers for early detection of metastasis, therapy monitoring and disease prognosis. However, the rarity of CTCs in the blood (tens of CTCs per mL blood) remains a technological barricade. We developed a Filter Array Regulated Microflow (FARM) chip combing filtration and immunoaffinity based CTC capture. The FARM chip is able to isolate CTCs with low deformability or high antibody expression level. Even more deformable CTCs with lower antibody expression are likely to be captured if the two components combination exceeds the CTC capture threshold. Overall, this method is capable of isolating, detecting and enumerating CTCs with high throughput and superb efficiency.

With the Fall semester arriving, we will be having our IMG Kickoff Meeting on August 21, 2018 (day before classes start) from 11:45AM to 1:30PM. During this meeting, we'll discuss important IMG updates, introduce new members, recognize our accomplishments over the last year, and present some IMG awards. We may also try to take a group photo, so if you have a IMG polo or t-shirt, please wear it.

Please note, all IMG members are expected to attend this meeting. Pizza and drinks will be provided.

This week, the speakers for the IMG Seminar are:

• Camilo Vélez (Dr. Arnold's group) on Integrating microfabricated magnetic materials in 5G telecommunication systems
• Cary Kuliasha (Dr. Judy's group)

Integrating microfabricated magnetic materials in 5G telecommunication systems.  The microfabrication of ferrite structures on semiconductor substrates for mm-wave applications is an imminent necessity to the development of components in the 5^th generation of telecommunication systems (5G). A team from IMG is conducting research in this area under the DARPA/MTO program called: Magnetic Miniaturized and Monolithically Integrated Components (M³IC). We have implemented fabrication and characterization techniques that required our group’s combined know-how on MEMS, microfabrication, magnetics, nanoparticles, transmission lines and RF. During this seminar we will present techniques to pattern >100 µm thick barium hexaferrite (BaFe₁₂O₁₉) films on semiconductor substrates, revealing material’s peak signal absorption associated with ferromagnetic resonances at 45.9 GHz.

This week, the speaker for the IMG Seminar is Dr. Yong-Kyu Yoon on "Put the IoT where the Mouth is" - Smart Mouthguard and its Prospects.

Wearable IoT devices are getting elevated attentions in this connected world. A smart mouthguard - one of the first IoT wearables in the oral space, is presented as a future smart health platform. The evolution and specifications of some smart mouthguards developed in the lab are showcased. Its prospects and future directions are discussed with audience. Also, some impressions Dr. Yoon got from Consumer Electronic Show (CES) 2018 will be shared.