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 […]
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 […]
Distinguished Speaker Seminar Mar 21, 2025: George Stephanopoulos
Title: Reinventing the Chemicals and Materials Industry: Transitioning to a Sustainable NetZero Economy Date and Time: March 21, 2025 | 1 p.m. PST Location: CHBE 102 Refreshments will be served at 12:50pm Abstract The Chemicals and Materials Industry (CMI) is a major producer of “wastes”, which are stressing the earth’s capacity in many dimensions, effecting climate change, degradation of the biosphere, human and animal migration, quality of life, health and security. The decarbonization of energy supplies, and its impact on climate change if we proceed with business as usual, is a recurring subject of daily news and scientific literature. But, the de-fossilization […]
Distinguished Speaker Seminar Jan 17, 2025: Ravi Kane
Title: Polyvalency: Inhibitors, Cellular Effectors, and Vaccines Date and Time: Jan 17, 2025 at 1:00pm Location: CHBE 102 Refreshments will be served at 12:50pm Abstract This talk will describe our efforts to interface biomolecules with nanoscale scaffolds for designing potent inhibitors and cellular effectors. The design of polyvalent molecules presenting multiple copies of a specific ligand represents a promising strategy to inhibit pathogens and bacterial toxins. We will first describe the design of polyvalent inhibitors that are orders of magnitude more active than the corresponding monovalent molecules and effective in vivo. We will also describe a thermodynamic analysis to help clarify the […]
Distinguished Speaker Seminar: Hon. Kirsty Duncan
Norman Epstein Memorial Lecture Seminar Title: Impossible is a Dare: From Advocacy to Impact Date and Time: Nov 29, 2024 at 1:00pm Location: CHBE 102 Refreshments will be served at 12:50pm Note: Thank you to everyone who attended; the event has now ended. We look forward to seeing you at the next one! Synopsis Dr. Duncan will challenge students to dream their greatest dream, to be the leaders they can be, to make positive change and real impact in their lives, their communities – and in the world. Taking us through her own courageous journey and her fight for justice, inclusion and equity on many fronts, she […]