Special Seminar November 14, 2025 – Koyo Norinaga
Title: R&D of a New DAC Technology Using LNG Cold Toward Demonstration Time and Date: Friday, November 14, 2025 at 2:00PM Location: CHBE 102 (2360 East Mall) Abstract Direct air capture (DAC) is a critical option for achieving net-negative emissions, but its thermal and electrical demands remain substantial. This talk introduces Cryo-DAC®, a cryogenic DAC technology that leverages the cold exergy available during LNG regasification to drive the separation of CO₂ from air. The project is being advanced through a strong academia–industry consortium—including gas distribution utilities, EPC contractors, and materials manufacturers—that contributes operational expertise and high-performance materials to accelerate design iterations and de-risk […]
Distinguished Speaker Seminar December 5, 2025: Mallik Tatipamula
Connectivity: The DNA of Our Society – Past, Present, and Future Date and Time: December 5, 2025 | 1 p.m. PST Location: CHBE 102 Refreshments will be served at 12:50 p.m. Abstract Connectivity is the DNA of our society, it underpins every interaction, every innovation, every leap forward. Over the past century, connectivity has evolved from early wireless experiments to the global Internet and intelligent, adaptive networks that power modern life. As we look ahead, connectivity is beginning to resemble the human body: intelligent “brains” in the cloud and edge, high-speed “nervous systems” through advanced networks, “senses” embedded in devices and environments, and […]
Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering Industry Night 2025
The Chemical and Biological Engineering Undergraduate Student Council and the Environmental Engineering Student Association are inviting you to the 2025 Industry Night! This event provides an opportunity for students to explore careers in Chemical, Biological, or Environmental Engineering and connect with industry leaders. Alumni are invited to attend and network with students, represent their company and re-connect with former classmates. Event Details: Date: Wednesday, November 19th, 2025 Time: 6:00 p.m. Location: CHBE Building Atrium, 2360 East Mall The evening includes: The registration form includes a section for those interested in having a booth to represent their company. If you have any […]
Distinguished Speaker Seminar October 24, 2025: Jasna Jankovic
How the Nano World Shapes the Future of Sustainable Energy: Insights from Microscopy, Quantification, and AI Date and Time: October 24, 2025 | 1 p.m. PST Location: CHBE 102 Refreshments will be served at 12:50 p.m. Abstract The global transition to sustainable energy is accelerating, reshaping economies and supply chains worldwide. Yet this shift comes with geopolitical uncertainties, resource constraints, and competitive pressures that make resilience and scale-up as critical as efficiency. Meeting global demand requires not only deploying technologies at unprecedented scales, but also ensuring their efficiency, durability, affordability, and independence from fragile supply lines. Here, materials science and accelerated […]
Distinguished Speaker Seminar October 10, 2025: Ian Gates
My Journey in Energy Research: Translating Fundamentals into Innovations and Commercial Outcomes Date and Time: October 10, 2025 | 1 p.m. PT Location: CHBE 102 Refreshments will be served at 12:50pm Abstract Over the past two decades, my research program has followed a trajectory that highlights how fundamental science can spark innovation and ultimately generate applied and commercial outcomes. Beginning with work on the physics and chemistry of heavy oil and oil sands, including multiphase flow, viscosity reduction, and the thermodynamics of recovery processes, we laid a foundation for a fundamental understanding that enabled new strategies for efficient extraction and upgrading. […]
Distinguished Speaker Seminar September 19, 2025: Kelly Sanders
From Climate Risk to Resilience: Quantitative Insights at the Intersection of Energy, Water, and Public Health Date and Time: September 19, 2025 | 1 p.m. PST Location: CHBE 102 Refreshments will be served at 12:50pm Abstract Climate-driven extreme events place escalating and uneven pressure on the critical systems we rely on to deliver electricity, clean water, and public health protections. Vulnerabilities from prolonged drought, extreme heat, and wildfires vary widely across space, time, and populations—shaped by interactions between physical infrastructure, environmental conditions, and social, economic, and biological determinants. Fortifying these interconnected systems requires analytical frameworks that advance our quantitative understanding of […]
Distinguished Speaker Seminar May 9, 2025: Tonio Buonassisi
Title: Fast-Tracking Sustainability: Accelerating Innovation with Computation and Automation Date and Time: May 9, 2025 | 1 p.m. PST Location: CHBE 102 Refreshments will be served at 12:50pm Abstract As climate change and global competition intensify, so does the pressure to innovate faster. In response, researchers are increasingly combining computational tools for rapid decision-making with robotics that interact directly with the physical world. These approaches span from partially automated workflows to fully autonomous, self-driving laboratories. While the promise of accelerated discovery is attracting growing interest and investment, realizing meaningful progress demands a strategic, long-term perspective — one that integrates infrastructure, research, and […]
Distinguished Speaker Seminar Apr 22, 2025: Bowen Li
Title: Precision Delivery of Nucleic Acid Medicines: From Engineered RNA to AI-Guided Lipid Nanoparticles Date and Time: April 22, 2025 | 11 a.m. PST Location: CHBE 102 Refreshments will be served at 10:50am Abstract Nucleic acid therapeutics are revolutionizing medicine, yet their clinical impact remains constrained by the challenge of targeted delivery beyond the liver. In this seminar, I will present our lab’s integrated approach to overcoming this barrier through the development of next-generation lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for the tissue- and cell-specific delivery of diverse nucleic acid cargos including messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), and gene editors. Our platform enables in […]
Distinguished Speaker Seminar Apr 9, 2025: Prof. Kristala Jones Prather
Title: Building Microbial Chemical Factories: Design, Assembly, and Engineering of Biological Routes to Chemical Compounds Date and Time: April 9, 2025 at 1:00pm Location: CHBE 102 Refreshments will be served at 12:50pm Abstract Biological systems have the potential to produce a wide array of compounds with uses that include fuels, materials, bulk chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Our group is focused on applying principles from metabolic engineering and biocatalysis towards the design and construction of novel biosynthetic pathways for specified target compounds. This “retrobiosynthetic design” approach is aided by advancements in the development of new tools under the umbrella of synthetic biology that facilitate […]
CERC Seminar Mar 31, 2025: Mohammad Masnadi
Title: Carbon intensity traceability of global energy systems via bottom-up life-cycle assessment Date and Time: March 31, 2025 at 1:00 P.M. Location: CHBE 202, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver Abstract Emerging technologies (e.g., remote sensing measurements via satellites, artificial intelligence via large language models) integrated with data-driven modeling enable obtaining high resolution insight about carbon footprints of different energy systems, with a profound impact on framing new energy policies and decisions. In this talk, I utilize life-cycle assessment and summarize decade long interdisciplinary research efforts to address some key energy transition knowledge gaps related to oil and gas systems in a national […]