MARVEL January Junior Seminars
The MARVEL Junior Seminars aim at intensifying interactions between the MARVEL Junior scientists belonging to different research groups (i.e. PhD & Postdocs either directly funded by the NCCR, or as a matching contribution). The EPFL community interested in MARVEL research topics is very welcome to attend.
Each seminar consists of two 25-minute presentations, followed by time for discussion.
Pizza will be served at 11:45 in front of the auditorium and you are also cordially invited after the seminar at 13:30 for coffee and dessert to continue the discussion with the speakers.
Machine learning potentials for liquid alkanes
Max Veit
EPFL, COSMO
Intrinsic ductility as a precursor to ductile fracture
Predrag Andric
EPFL, LAMMM
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Seeing the Forest and the Trees: Single Nucleus Sequencing in the Spinal Cord
To understand the cellular basis of behavior, it is necessary to know the cell types that exist in the nervous system and their contributions to function. Spinal networks are essential for sensory processing and motor behavior and provide a powerful system for identifying the cellular correlates of behavior. We sought to leverage the recent revolution in single cell transcriptional profiling to reveal the cell types of the adult mouse spinal cord and their activity. First, we adapted a robust strategy for massively parallel single nucleus RNA sequencing that can be used for complex central nervous system tissue without driving experimental changes in gene expression. Next, we created a molecular and cellular atlas of the adult mouse spinal cord. We identified and characterized forty-three neuronal populations that encompass dorsal, ventral, excitatory, and inhibitory cell types and include both previously known and novel populations. Finally, we used the dynamic transcriptional signature of neuronal activity to “map” activated neurons associated with a sensory response and a motor behavior. This approach can now be used to link single cell resolution to system wide changes and reveal gene the dynamic biological responses to behavior, injury, and disease.
Bio
Dr. Levine received an undergraduate degree in biology from Brandeis University in 2000, a Ph.D. from The Rockefeller University in 2008, and an M.D. from Cornell University in 2009. During her postdoctoral research with Dr. Samuel Pfaff at The Salk Institute, she identified a novel population of spinal neurons that encode “motor synergies” – modular neural programs for simple movements that are thought to underlie a wide variety of common behaviors. She joined the National Institutes of Health in 2015 where her lab studies how the molecules, neurons, and circuits of the spinal cord mediate normal behavior and learn.
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The Road towards Verifiable Internet Voting in Geneva
Abstract
The voting and election processes are the backbone of Swiss democracy and threats to those processes are not to be taken lightly. For this reason, the Federal Chancellery introduced new rules and requirements on Internet Voting systems back in 2014, defining thresholds on the availability of Internet Voting, subjected to three increasing compliance levels.
This talk will introduce some of the security properties defined in the federal requirements, and summarize the work done in collaboration between the eVoting group at the Berner Fachhochschule and the State of Geneva.
We will conclude with a brief overview of the state of the project and of the work that still remains to be done, focusing on the cryptographic protocol.
Biography
Thomas Hofer studied at EPFL, where his master thesis received the Kudelski Award, for its significant contribution to information systems security. After some experience as a Java Consultant, he started working on Internet Voting for the State of Geneva, where his responsibilities shifted from software developer to in-house security and cryptography expert. In his free time, he is co-chapter leader for the OWASP Geneva Chapter.
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Development of microsystems for the controlled formation of cell aggregates by dielectrophoresis
Thesis directors: Prof. François Buret, Prof. Marie Frénéa-Robin et Prof. Philippe Renaud
Doctoral Program in Microsystems and Microelectronics
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Engineering 3D Culture Models of Physiology and Disease: How Simple is Complex Enough?
DISTINGUISHED LECTURE IN BIOENGINEERING
(sandwiches served)
Abstract:
Multicellular ecosystems such as biofilms, tissues, and whole organisms operate as highly integrated systems that link physical structure and biological function. In mammalian tissues, structure determines the effectiveness by which muscles generate force, lungs oxygenate blood, or glandular organs produce bile, milk, or saliva. Even at the level of single cells, tissue structure constrains how cells interact with surrounding extracellular matrix, neighboring cells, and physical forces, and these “microenvironmental” cues in turn regulate cell function at a fundamental level. Here, I will describe our efforts to design and generate functional tissue architectures most relevant to the cardiovascular system, using a variety of fabrication and cell-driven assembly approaches. We will present ongoing efforts to build in vitro organotypic models that mimic native tissue functions, studies to examine integration of engineered structures in vivo, and discuss opportunities and challenges for how to connect these insights to the ultimate translational objectives set by regenerative medicine.
Bio:
Dr. Chen is Professor of Biomedical Engineering and director of the Tissue Microfabrication Laboratory at Boston University. He has been an instrumental figure in the development of engineered cellular microenvironments in order to engineer cell function. The goal of Dr. Chen’s research is to identify the underlying mechanisms by which cells interact with materials and each other to build tissues, and to apply this knowledge in the biology of stem cells, tissue vascularization, connective tissues, and cancer. He has received numerous honors, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the Angiogenesis Foundation Fellowship, the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, the Mary Hulman George Award for Biomedical Research, and the Herbert W. Dickerman Award For Outstanding Contribution to Science. He serves a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and as a member of the Faculty of 1000 Biology, the Board of Trustees for the Society for BioMEMS and Biomedical Nanotechnology, and Defense Sciences Study Group. He is on the Editorial Board for Science Translational Medicine, Annuals Reviews of Cell and Developmental Biology, and Developmental Cell, and an Editor for Journal of Cell Science, BioInterphases, Technology, and Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering.
He received his A.B. in Biochemistry from Harvard, M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and Ph.D. in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics from the Harvard-MIT. Health Sciences and Technology Program. He earned his M.D. from the Harvard Medical School. Dr. Chen was previously was Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering and in Oncology at Johns Hopkins University, the Skirkanich Professor of Innovation and founding director of the Center for Engineering Cells and Regeneration at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Non genetic cell opto stimulation
Abstract: Organic semiconductors in different shapes and composition can be interfaced with living cells. This provides a new, exciting route towards optical control of physiological functions or the restoring of natural functions. In this talk I will present a number of experiments that show the effective abiotic-biotic coupling with cells and small animals, suggesting the potential of organic light actuators for geneless opto stimulation. Investigated systems are based on carbon molecules or polymers as photoactive component in planar films, nanostructured layers or nanoparticles. Spectroscopy, photo-electrochemistry and photo-electrophysiology are exploited to carry out the experimental investigations. While the mechanism explaining such coupling is still unknown, it is appering that thermal, capacitive, faradaic or chemical coupling are all options to be carefully evaluated. To conclude the successful use of an organic retina implant for restoring visual acuity in blind animals will be reported.
Bio: GL research activity regards the science and technology of nanostructured and molecular materials. The main area of experimental work is photophysics, for application in energy, bio-photonics, neuroscience and medicine. In particular, he is recently involved in the project for developing an artificial retina prosthesis. The activity produced 300 papers in international journals, 190 invited talks at international conferences and five patents. He is involved in two start-up companies. He is the author of the book “The Photophysics behind Photovoltaics and Photonics” for Wiley-VCH.
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Genomic data privacy in the age of personal genomics
Abstract
Personal genomics is becoming increasingly popular, but mounting privacy concerns threaten to impede adoption. We propose a new, privacy-focused model for personal genomics that employs cryptography and decentralization to secure personal genomic data and outline various policy issues that should be considered if this model is to be adopted.
Bio
Dennis Grishin is CSO and co-founder of Nebula Genomics. He studied biology at the University of Freiburg and computer science at Harvard University and is a recipient of the German National Academic Foundation Fellowship. He is currently a Boehringer Ingelheim Ph.D. Fellow in Genetics and Genomics at Harvard University.
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Citation best practices
Citer ses sources correctement demande d’acquérir les bons réflexes. Dans cet atelier, nous passerons en revue les différents cas de citation dans vos publications et vos travaux académiques. A la fin de l’atelier, vous serez en mesure de :
- Comprendre les enjeux de la citation
- Réutiliser différents types de contenus sans vous mettre en situation de plagiat
- Citer correctement vos sources, dans le texte et dans la bibliographie
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Towards the design of molecular materials: from many-body methods to enhanced density functional approximations
New technologies are made possible by new materials, and until recently new materials could only be discovered experimentally. However, approaches based on the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics are now integrated to many design initiatives in academia and industry, underpinning efforts such as the Materials Genome initiative or the computational crystal structure prediction (CSP [1]). The latest CSP blind test organized by the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Center [2] revealed two major remaining challenges:
(i) Crystal polymorphs are often separated by just a few kJ/mol, exceeding the accuracy of standard density functional approximations (DFAs).
(ii) Dealing with a vast search space, in particular for molecules with increased flexibility, one has to sample about 1 Mio possible crystal structures.
Recent algorithmic developments in Quantum Monte-Carlo make it feasible to molecular crystals and we are now able to predict static lattice energies with potentially sub-chemical accuracy [3]. On the other hand, cost-effective electronic structure methods will be presented that gain up to four orders of magnitude in computational speed compared to traditional DFAs and are suited for optimizing a huge number of putative crystal structures [4]. Promising applications to the CSP of pharmaceutical-like molecules have been demonstrated recently [5]. A perspective on employing machine learning techniques in the CSP context will be discussed.
[1] S. L. Price, JGB, Molecular Crystal Structure Prediction; Elsevier Australia, 2017.
[2] A. M. Reilly, R. I. Cooper, C. S. Adjiman, S. Bhattacharya, A. D. Boese, JGB, P. J. Bygrave, R. Bylsma, J.E. Campbell, R. Car, et al. Acta. Cryst. B 2016, 72, 439.
[3] A. Zen, JGB, J. Klimeš, A. Tkatchenko, D. Alfè, A. Michaelides, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2018, 115, 1724.
[4] E. Caldeweyher, JGB, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 2018, 30, 213001.
[5] L. Iuzzolino, P. McCabe, S. L. Price, JGB, Faraday Discuss. 2018, 211, 275.
About the speaker — Following his Diplom in physics at Heidelberg University, Dr. Brandenburg completed his dissertation in Theoretical Chemistry in 2015. He moved to the University College London as a visiting lecturer funded by the Alexander von Humboldt foundation. In 2018, he moved back to Germany, where he currently continues his research at the University of Göttingen. His research involves computer simulations of molecular crystals with specific focus on the prediction of organic crystal structures and their properties. He develops and applies simplified density functional based electronic structure approaches as well as many-body methodologies. Dr. Brandenburg has been awarded numerous early career prices, among them the PhD price of the university society Bonn for the best thesis over all disciplines. His research has been published in over 40 peer-reviewed articles. He is partner of the ERC consortium NanoSolveIT and contributor of an INCITE 2019 project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
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Brave inclusion of diversity and giving opportunities to all students is the classroom
From this seminar you will learn about the developments which have enabled the main UK higher education institutions to develop inclusive digital education curricula.
This is also an opportunity to learn practices and share ideas on how to successfully manage participation equally and inclusively.
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At odds with electron correlation: are we betting solely on the winning horse?
The theoretical study of realistic systems of interest in life sciences or nanotechnology is possible only if the contrasting goals of high accuracy and low computational costs are met. Despite its success and increased popularity, DFT fails at times in the ultimate goal of being a predictive tool. For this reason, development of alternative electron correlation methods is still a very active area of research in Quantum Chemistry. This talk starts with an overview on some of the computational techniques developed around the paradigm of multiconfigurational WFT. Several key elements are discussed. First, how such methods can be useful for the study of strong correlation in molecules. Second, the way we can build robust multiscale approaches on top of WFT in order to dissect electron correlation effects into components of different characteristic length-scale. The talk will end with a presentation of some ideas aimed at the design of a new class of DFT functionals with the help of information from WFT.
About the speaker — Francesco Aquilante holds a PhD in theoretical chemistry from Lund University with a thesis on the development of the so-called ab initio Density Fitting from Cholesky Decomposition approximation.After a postdoctoral stay at Geneva University, he became an independent researcher at Uppsala University and then obtained a grant from the Italian Research Ministry to carry on his work at the University of Bologna. He is now completing a second research stay at Geneva University. One of the major contributors to the MOLCAS quantum chemistry software, his expertise spans from multiscale techniques for excited state calculations to the treatment of strong correlation in molecules through electron correlation methods and novel density functional approximations.
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Applied Machine Learning Days 2019
The Applied Machine Learning Days will take place from January 26th to 29th, 2019, at the Swiss Tech Convention Center on EPFL campus. It is now the largest and best-known Machine Learning event in Switzerland, and increasingly recognized as a major event in Europe. The event has a focus specifically on the applications of machine learning and AI, making it particularly interesting to industry and academia.
Saturday & Sunday will be ‘hands-on’ with more than 25 workshops, tutorials, trainings, coding classes and hackathons. The main conference will take place on Monday and Tuesday, with a program featuring amazing speakers, 16 domain-specific tracks (parallel session), poster sessions, a job fair and a special night with Garry Kasparov.
Speakers:
- Garry Kasparov (Chess Grandmaster)
- Zeynep Tufekci (The New York Times)
- Jeff Dean (Google)
- Katja Hofmann (Microsoft Research)
- Antoine Bordes (Facebook AI Research)
- Alex "Sandy" Pentland (MIT Media Lab)
- Yuan (Alan) Qi (Ant Financial)
- Yuanchun Shi (Tsinghua University)
- Li Pu (Segway Robotics)
- Christopher Bishop (Microsoft Research)
- Evgeniy Gabrilovich (Google)
- crowdAI winners
Workshops:
Hands-on deep learning with TensorFlow.js / Policy-Making and Data Economy at the city level: utopia or reality? / Applied Language Technologies / Engineering for good - detecting pneumonia in X-Ray images / Advances in ML: Theory meets practice / AI and Healthcare / Industrial open data / Building Private-by-Design Voice Assistants with Snips / Trust In AI - methods and use cases for debiasing and explaining of algorithms / Using PySpark and interactive Jupyter notebook on Amazon Clusters / Tutorial: Build your first predictive model to forecast and detect anomalies / ML in your organization: a practical toolbox to identify and seize highest value opportunities in Machine Learning / PySpark: Big Data Processing and Machine Learning with Python / Enabling Resilience with Remote Sensing / Artificial Curiosity: Intrinsic Motivation in Machines too! / Reatching into the Rabbit Hole: Should we replace teachers with AI? / Machine Learning for fake news detection: theory and practice / TensorFlow Basics - Saturday / TensorFlow Basics - Sunday / Learning and Processing over Networks / Crashcourse in R for machine learning / Machine Learning Competition: Tennis Prediction / Applied Machine Learning for Anomaly Detection on Equipment / Credit Suisse Document Digitization Hackathon / TDA crash course: theory and practice for ML applications / Data exploration and preparation for Machine Learning / Machine Learning in Finance / Blue Brain Nexus, a knowledge graph for data driven projects
Tracks:
• AI & Cities
• AI & Computer Systems
• AI & Environment
• AI & Finance
• AI & Health
• AI & Industry
• AI & Intellectual Property
• AI & Language
• AI & Learning Analytics
• AI & Media
• AI & the Molecular World
• AI & Networks
• AI & Nutrition
• AI & Society
• AI & Transportation
• AI & Trust
Registration is mandatory and includes breakfast, coffee breaks, lunch and refreshments.
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Robust and Practical Bayesian Optimization and Beyond
The central task in many interactive machine learning systems can be formalized as the sequential optimization of a black-box function. Bayesian optimization (BO) is a powerful model-based framework for adaptive experimentation, where the primary goal is the optimization of the black-box function via sequentially chosen decisions. In many real-world tasks, it is essential for the decisions to be robust against, e.g., adversarial failures and perturbations, dynamic and time-varying phenomena, a mismatch between simulations and reality, etc. Under such requirements, the standard methods and BO algorithms become inadequate. In this talk, we discuss algorithms with provable regret guarantees that can enhance robust and adaptive decision making in BO and related problems. We also consider associated robust submodular and non-submodular optimization problems, and present practical and efficient algorithms with improved robustness and constant factor approximation guarantees. Finally, we demonstrate the robust performance of our algorithms in numerous real-world applications (e.g., environmental monitoring and recommender systems) and tasks (e.g., robot pushing and feature selection).
Key words: Bayesian optimization, Gaussian process, Submodularity, Robust optimization, Regret bounds, Level-set estimation, Non-submodular optimization
About the speaker — Volkan Cevher received the B.Sc. (valedictorian) in electrical engineering from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, in 1999 and the Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA in 2005. He was a Research Scientist with the University of Maryland, College Park from 2006-2007 and also with Rice University in Houston, TX, from 2008-2009. Currently, he is an Associate Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne and a Faculty Fellow in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Rice University. His research interests include signal processing theory, machine learning, convex optimization, and information theory. Dr. Cevher was the recipient of the IEEE Signal Processing Society Best Paper Award in 2016, a Best Paper Award at CAMSAP in 2015, a Best Paper Award at SPARS in 2009, and an ERC CG in 2016 as well as an ERC StG in 2011.
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Development and validation of interatomic potentials and application to the simulation of phase transformations
I will present five short stories on the derivation of models of the interatomic interaction from Density Functional Theory (DFT), the validation of potentials and their application to the simulation of phase transformations. I will show how a systematic coarse graining of the electronic structure from DFT to the tight-binding approximation and analytic Bond-Order Potentials leads to magnetic potentials that capture the subtle interplay between magnetism and phase stability in iron. Further I will introduce the atomic cluster expansion as a formal many-atom expansion with an accuracy and transferability comparable to current machine learning approaches As different researchers typically have a different focus when developing potentials, interatomic potentials have various application ranges. I will present automated high-throughput calculations to validate a large number of interatomic potentials against DFT and to discern their application ranges I will then discuss the application of magnetic Bond-Order Potentials to simulating finite temperature magnetism in iron, in particular the ferromagnetic to paramagnetic phase transformation, the alpha-gamma transition and the prediction of mechanical properties. I will further summarize atomic simulations for phase stability, nucleation and solid-solid transformations with relevance to high-temperature materials.
About the speaker — Ralf Drautz received his Diploma in Physics (with distinction) from the Universität Stuttgart, Germany in 1998. He was a PhD student at the Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Stuttgart, Germany and received his PhD degree (Dr. rer. nat., summa cum laude) in 2003. Ralf Drautz was a research fellow (2003-2004), and a Senior Research Fellow and Materials Modelling Laboratory Research Fellow (2005-2008) at the University of Oxford. Since 2008, he has been Chair Professor at Ruhr-Universität Bochum in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, as well as the Director at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Advanced Materials Simulation (ICAMS).
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Novel Mouse Models to Study Mitochondrial Proteostasis in the Nervous System
SEMINAR of the LAUSANNE INTEGRATIVE METABOLISM and NUTRITION ALLIANCE (LIMNA)
Abstract:
Disturbances in the morphology and function of mitochondria cause neurological diseases, which can affect the central and peripheral nervous system. The i-AAA protease YME1L ensures mitochondrial proteostasis and regulates mitochondrial dynamics by processing of the dynamin-like GTPase OPA1. Mutations in YME1L cause a multi-systemic mitochondriopathy associated with neurological dysfunction and mitochondrial fragmentation but pathogenic mechanisms remained enigmatic. Here, we report on striking cell-type specific defects in mice lacking YME1L in the nervous system. YME1L-deficient mice manifest ocular dysfunction with microphthalmia and cataracts and at later stages of life develop deficiencies in locomotor activity due to specific degeneration of spinal cord axons. We demonstrate that YME1L ensures efficient mitochondrial transport in neurons and maintains mitochondrial proteostasis and dynamics in vivo. Additional deletion of Oma1 restores tubular mitochondria but deteriorates axonal degeneration in the absence of YME1L, demonstrating that impaired mitochondrial proteostasis rather than mitochondrial fragmentation cause trafficking defects and the observed neurological dysfunction.
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FORWARD, the innovation forum for SMEs.
7th of February from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Swiss Tech Convention Center, EPFL
For its 2nd edition, FORWARD - the Innovation Forum for SMEs - will be back at the SwissTech Convention Center on February 7, 2019. With nearly 1’000 participants during the first edition and simultaneous French-German translation, this event intends to be the national meeting point for SME innovation projects.
This is an ideal opportunity for the EPFL community to interact with SMEs and better understand their goals and challenges in terms of innovation. Emphasis will be placed on experience sharing and the initiation of collaborative innovation opportunities.
In this year’s edition dedicated to the theme "Digital shift: getting organized to innovate" you will participate in a variety of activities such as inspiring conferences, thematic sessions to further develop the topics and a networking platform.
Register now and benefit of the preferential price of CHF 100.- for students and non-profit organizations.
- For EPFL researchers wishing to register, please send us a message at: pme@epfl.ch
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On the coalescence of models with data for infrastructure assessment
This talk will be given in the frame of the SWICCOMAS General Assembly. The planning is:
14h – 15h Seminar by Eleni Chatzi, ETHZ
15h – 16h General Assembly
1. SWICCOMAS board
2. New ECCOMAS constitution
3. SWICCOMAS price
4. WCCM 2020, Paris
5. Budget approval
6. Short update by Prof. Eleni Chatzi, ECCOMAS Young Investigators.
16 – 17h Aperitif
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Swiss Blockchain Winter School - EPFL - ETHZ - IC3
Swiss Blockchain Winter School - Feb 11-14, 2019
https://blockchainschool.epfl.ch/
Registration page
Hotel discount reservation (still some rooms left on the offered hotel platform, as well as via standard booking)
Travel stipend application (deadline: January 11, 2019)
Please join us for the Swiss Blockchain Winter School 2019 on February 11-14, 2019 at the Congress Center Interlaken, Switzerland. This event is hosted by EPFL, ETHZ and IC3, and will be the second of its kind continuing the highly successful Swiss Blockchain Summer School 2017.
The goal of this event is to give interested students, academics, and professionals from industry an opportunity for a deep dive into technical, economic, and social aspects of blockchain technology and interact with world-class experts from academia and industry.
The Winter School program includes keynotes and lectures by renowned academic researchers and industrial practitioners with extensive track records of innovative blockchain work, including:
Rainer Böhme - University of Innsbruck
Jan Camenisch - DFINITY
Giulia Fanti - Carnegie Mellon University
Bryan Ford - EPFL and IC3
Matteo Maffei - TU Vienna
Dahlia Malkhi - VMware Research
David Mazières - Stanford University and Stellar
Silvio Micali - MIT CSAIL and Algorand
Andrew Miller - UIUC and IC3
Rafael Pass - Cornell Tech, IC3, and ThunderCore
Prateek Saxena - National University of Singapore and Zilliqa
Ewa Syta - Trinity College Hartford
Peter Van Valkenburgh - Coin Center
Roger Wattenhofer - ETHZ
Vassilis Zikas - University of Edinburgh / IOHK
For more details, including the full list of speakers, registration, program, venue and accommodation information etc., please visit our website at: https://blockchainschool.epfl.ch/ Some of the details (like the program) are still subject to change but will be finalized shortly.
Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, we anticipate being able to offer a small number of travel stipends to students, which may help partially defray the costs of travel to the Winter School. We will prioritize awards to students who are currently working on compelling blockchain-related research and whose research groups can’t readily cover the full costs of attendance. To be eligible for a travel stipend, students must be fully registered and paid by January 11, 2019, and provide a brief statement of your current blockchain-related research, how attending the Winter School will help you, what you have done in this area in the past, your estimated travel costs, and what other funding sources you have access to if any. Please submit this information via our stipend application form by January 11. Please be advised that we cannot guarantee funding availability, and stipends we do award will likely cover only part, and not all, of the travel costs.
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Prof. Reza Ghodssi - IMT Distinguished Lecture
University of Maryland
Institute of Microengineering - Distinguished Lecture
Abstract & Bio to follow.
Note: The Seminar Series is eligible for ECTS credits in the EDMI doctoral program.
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Research Data licensing noon talk
Research data is a precious good. Where is the balance between protecting it and opening it? How can you manage the way it is reused by others? In this Noon Talk, the topic of data licensing will be presented from various points of view.
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Research Data Management workshop
"Introduction" workshop
In this course, you will get an introduction to the main concepts of Research Data Management to apply them to your specific situation. Learning outcomes:
- Know the stakes around Research Data Management
- Discover how a Data Management Plan (DMP) can help you be more efficient in your research
- Get an overview of good practices to work with your data at the different stages of your project
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Ab initio free energy calculations for gas adsorption and separation in nanoporous systems
Institute of Chemistry,
Humboldt University,
Berlin, Germany
ChE-605 - Highlights in Energy Research seminar series
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising materials for gas storage, e.g. storage of energy carriers such as H2, and gas separation processes, e.g. removal of CO2 from CH4. The rational design of new adsorbents with enhanced separation performance at optimized separation conditions requires reliable predictions of adsorption isotherms and co-adsorption selectivities with no other input than the atomic position. This we achieve with Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations on a lattice of adsorption sites. The Hamiltonian is defined by Gibbs free energies of adsorption on individual sites and lateral interaction energies (adsorbate-adsorbate) calculated, both obtained with quantum chemical ab initio calculations.
Currently, co-adsorption isotherms are almost exclusively obtained from single component isotherms using the Ideal Adsorbed Solution Theory (IAST). Based on our ab initio calculation we analyse the underlying approximations and propose an improved model for systems with strong lateral interactions.
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Subcellular-resolution electrophysiology with CMOS-based high-density microelectrode arrays
Extracellular electrical recordings by means of microelectrode arrays complement well-established patch clamp techniques and optical or optogenetic techniques. The use of CMOS technology helps to overcome the connectivity problem of how to interface thousands of tightly-spaced electrodes, while, at the same time, it improves signal-to-noise characteristics, as signal conditioning is done on chip next to where the partially very small signals (< 10 µV) are generated. Several different approaches relying on open-gate field-effect transistors or metal electrodes have been pursued. There are high-density pixel-based approaches and realizations based on a switch matrix concept. State of the art systems enable to, e.g., resolve individual action potentials propagating along axons. Applications include research in neural diseases and pharmacology.
Andreas Hierlemann completed his college education in chemistry at the University of Tübingen, Germany, and was awarded a Ph.D. degree in 1996. He then held Postdoctoral positions at Texas A & M University, College Station, TX, USA, in 1997, and at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA, in 1998. In 1999, he joined the Department of Physics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, where he was appointed Associate Professor in June 2004. In April 2008, he became a Full Professor in the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (BSSE), ETH Zurich, Basel. His research interests include the development and application of microsensor, microfluidic, and microelectronic technologies to address questions in biology and medicine with applications in the fields of systems biology, drug testing, personalized medicine, and neuroscience. For details, see https://www.bsse.ethz.ch/bel/.
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An omics journey through the intriguing world of adipose biology
Abstract :
Given the world-wide increase in obesity, studying the onset of this debilitating syndrome and specifically the dynamic nature of fat tissue is of great interest. In this presentation, I intend to summarize my lab’s efforts in addressing multiple, outstanding questions related to adipose biology. First, I will show how we are using integrative genomic approaches to better understand the transcriptional networks that drive terminal fat cell differentiation, highlighting several studies that allowed us to uncover novel, central regulators of this process. Second, I will demonstrate the power of single cell transcriptomics in allowing us to acquire a high-resolution snapshot of adipose stromal cell heterogeneity, revealing several distinct subpopulations. Surprisingly, we found that one subpopulation is not only refractory to adipogenesis, but also exhibits a remarkable capacity to inhibit in vitro and in vivo mammalian adipocyte formation. The discovery of these adipogenesis-regulatory cells (“Aregs”) is significant as it may fundamentally change our thinking of how the composition and plasticity of fat depots is regulated. Finally, I will discuss our latest efforts in better understanding the genetic and molecular determinants underlying adipose-related human traits. I will thereby introduce the concept of “variable chromatin modules” that we have recently coined and show how this concept can assist us in uncovering the flow of molecular information from regulatory variant to adipose-related phenotype.
Bio :
Bart Deplancke graduated as a Biochemical Engineer at Ghent University (Belgium, 1998) after which he pursued doctoral studies in Immunobiology at the University of Illinois (USA). Thereafter, he engaged in postdoctoral, regulatory genomics work in the laboratories of Marc Vidal and Marian Walhout (Harvard and UMass Medical Schools respectively) during which he developed a now patented, high-throughput protein-DNA interaction screening approach. To establish his own lab at the EPFL at the end of 2007 where he is now a tenured Associate Professor and Vice-Dean of Innovation, he decided to continue developing new experimental and computational approaches to answer questions related to the biology of the genome. The Deplancke Lab has by now built a sizeable toolkit, involving microfluidics, high-throughput sequencing, and single cell genomics, to address questions pertaining to the origin, diversity and function of stromal cells in adipose tissue as well as to how genomic variation affects molecular and organismal diversity with a specific focus on metabolic phenotypes. In 2013, he also became a Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics Group Leader and in 2017, he was elected to the National Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
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to be announced
BIOENGINEERING COLLOQUIA SERIES
(sandwiches served)
Abstract:
To be provided.
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Is Mars Habitable ?
Assessing the habitability of Mars has been an objective of the scientific community for a long time, but it has recently become a sustained focus in light of data being returned from the planet and growing knowledge about life in extreme environments. The Curiosity rover on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), one of NASAs flagship missions, analyses since August 2012 the Martian environment to assess whether Mars could have supported life. After more than 5 years of operations on Mars the rover Curiosity has acquired an unprecedented data record of near surface measurements providing an invaluable ground truth about the environmental conditions on Mars. In particular Curiosity has found: (i) evidences for liquid water conditions on Mars; (ii) preserved indigenous organic molecules in mudstone soil samples; (iii) indigenous fixed nitrogen which may provide a biochemically accessible source of nitrogen for life; (iv) manganese oxides on the surface; and (iv) also detected methane in the atmosphere at variable concentrations throughout the mission. These discoveries, together with other from previous and current missions to Mars, have sparked speculation about the past or present existence of life on Mars; and they have opened many scientific questions and challenges. Moreover, the future human exploration of Mars requires access to in-situ resources. Space agencies are requesting, for the first time ever, for ideas on In-situ Resources Utilization (ISRU) instruments that can efficiently extract key resources (water, oxygen, etc.) from Mars. But the international efforts of Mars surface exploration require a coordinated effort to respect the Planetary Protection protocols and to avoid the forward contamination of Mars. This in turn requires, updating our knowledge about the Martian habitability conditions.
Javier Martín-Torres is Chaired Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the Luleå University of Technology in Sweden. He is also Visiting Professor at the School of Physics and Astronomy, at the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom, at the Spanish Research Council, and Specially Appointed Professor at the University of Okayama in Japan.
Javier is the principal investigator of the HABIT instrument that will fly to Mars aboard the ExoMars mission of the European Space Agency. He has been the scientific responsible for the REMS instrument in NASA's Curiosity, which since 2012 investigates the habitability of Mars, and co-investigator of 7 space missions of NASA and ESA. He has worked for ESA, CalTech and Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and ten years for NASA, from which he has received seven awards, one for "Outstanding contributions to the Investigations to the Columbia Challenger accident" and another "for the success of the operations and scientific exploitation of REMS/Curiosity ". Recently his team has won several European space innovation awards, including the OHB Innospace Challenge, and in November a team consisting of two of his students will fly in the Fly Your Thesis! Campaign of the European Space Agency, after being one of the 2 European teams selected in a European competitive process. In addition, for three years he was director of the Planetary Atmosphere Group of the Center of Astrobiology in Madrid, Spain.
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to be announced
BIOENGINEERING COLLOQUIA SERIES
(sandwiches served)
Abstract:
To be provided.
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Research Data Management workshop
"From plan to action" workshop
In this personalized workshop, you will check the consistency of your data management plan (DMP) and how to implement it in your lab. Before you attend the workshop, you will need to fill a form about your current practices. If you are not familiar with research data management already, we suggest that you register to our introduction course.
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to be announced
BIOENGINEERING COLLOQUIA SERIES
(sandwiches served)
Abstract:
To be provided.
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To be defined
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Research Data Management workshop
"From plan to action" workshop
In this personalized workshop, you will check the consistency of your data management plan (DMP) and how to implement it in your lab. Before you attend the workshop, you will need to fill a form about your current practices. If you are not familiar with research data management already, we suggest that you register to our introduction course.
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to be announced
BIOENGINEERING COLLOQUIA SERIES
(sandwiches served)
Abstract:
To be provided.
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Free electrons to molecular bonds and back – The dark side of solar fuels and solar chemicals
In this talk, I will highlight some of our recent advances in the field of direct electrochemical reduction of CO2 into value‐added fuels and chemicals on metallic Cu‐based catalysts and nonmetallic carbon‐based MNC electrocatalysts with molecularly‐defined coordinative MNx metal‐nitrogen centers as active sites. Special focus will be placed on efficient production of CO at lab‐scale and industrial current densities with emphasis on a fundamental understanding of between selectivity and the nature of the MNx moiety. Furthermore, the design of hybrid electrocatalysts consisting of CO‐efficient MNC backbones decorated with
CuOx nanoparticles will be addressed and the molecular mechanisms of their enhanced ethylene production discussed.
Bio: Peter Strasser is a Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and the Head of the Electrochemical Catalysis, Energy, and Materials Science Laboratory at the Technical University of Berlin. His research interests include the fundamental aspects between heterogeneous catalysis and electrocatalysis, and the electrochemical aspects of energy storage, energy conversion, and solar fuel production devices. In 2018, he received the Sir William Grove Award for his achievements and leadership in electrochemistry by the International Association of Hydrogen Energy.
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to be announced
BIOENGINEERING COLLOQUIA SERIES
(sandwiches served)
Abstract:
To be provided.
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Lecture Demonstrations in the age of YouTube
Au-delà de la discussion de cette question, l’atelier fournira des conseils relatifs au design et à l’utilisation de ces démonstrations dans différents cas de figure. Et vous aurez l’occasion de prototyper une démonstration de votre domaine d’expertise.
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Journée Industrie
L’innovation est une des missions de base de l’EPFL et d’importance primordiale pour la Faculté des Sciences et Techniques de l’Ingénieur (STI). Après deux éditions avec plus de 150 entreprises participantes, nous organisons la 3ème édition de la journée industrie le mercredi 20 mars 2019. Elle offre différentes opportunités aux entreprises, laboratoires de recherche de l’EPFL et aux étudiants master et doctorants
Pour les entreprises:
- Prendre connaissance de l’état de la recherche à l’EPFL
- Rencontrer des Professeurs et des étudiants Master
- Initier des collaborations pour innover au sein de leur entreprise
- Présenter leur entreprise aux étudiants et chercheurs
- Présenter votre recherche aux entreprises présentes
- Inviter vos partenaires industrielles
- Rencontrer de potentiels futurs partenaires industriels et discuter d’opportunités de collaboration
- Profiter des discussions organisées, réseautage informel, et des stands d’expositions
- Établir un réseau d’intégration professionnel pour les étudiants doctorants et postdocs
- S’informer sur la recherche et développement dans l’industrie
- Côtoyer l’innovation et l’entrepreneuriat à l’EPFL
- Rencontrer de potentielles entreprises hôtes pour votre stage, projet de master en entreprise ou pour un futur emploi
Plus de 4 heures de réseautage seront disponibles dans l’espace exposants durant les pauses, et des rencontres en face-à-face entre chercheurs et industriels pourront être réservées.
Nous espérons que vous trouverez une grande motivation à venir au Swisstech Convention Center le mercredi 20 mars 2019, et nous nous réjouissons de pouvoir vous proposer un programme intéressant.
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to be announced
BIOENGINEERING COLLOQUIA SERIES
(sandwiches served)
Abstract:
To be provided.
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TBA
The Ferrell lab studies signal transduction and cell cycle regulation, mainly focusing the spatial and temporal regulation of mitotic entry and exit. They explore how the individual proteins that regulate these processes work together in circuits, generating reliable systems-level behaviors, by using quantitative experimental approaches, modeling, and theory. Much of their work make use of Xenopus laevis oocytes, eggs, embryos, and extracts, as well as mammalian cell lines.
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HASEL Artificial Muscles - Versatile High-Performance Actuators for a New Generation of Life-like Robots
University of Colorado Boulder
Institute of Microengineering - Distinguished Lecture
Abstract: Robots today rely on rigid components and electric motors based on metal and magnets, making them heavy, unsafe near humans, expensive and ill-suited for unpredictable environments. Nature, in contrast, makes extensive use of soft materials and has produced organisms that drastically outperform robots in terms of agility, dexterity, and adaptability. The Keplinger Lab aims to fundamentally challenge current limitations of robotic hardware, using an interdisciplinary approach that synergizes concepts from soft matter physics and chemistry with advanced engineering technologies to introduce intelligent materials systems for a new generation of life-like robots. One major theme of research is the development of new classes of actuators – a key component of all robotic systems – that replicate the sweeping success of biological muscle, a masterpiece of evolution featuring astonishing all-around actuation performance, the ability to self-heal after damage, and seamless integration with sensing.
This talk is focused on the labs' recently introduced HASEL artificial muscle technology. Hydraulically Amplified Self-healing ELectrostatic (HASEL) transducers are a new class of self-sensing, high-performance muscle-mimetic actuators, which are electrically driven and harness a mechanism that couples electrostatic and hydraulic forces to achieve a wide variety of actuation modes. Current designs of HASEL are capable of exceeding actuation stress of 0.3 MPa, linear strain of 100%, specific power of 600W/kg, full-cycle electromechanical efficiency of 30% and bandwidth of over 100Hz; all these metrics match or exceed the capabilities of biological muscle. Additionally, HASEL actuators can repeatedly and autonomously self-heal after electric breakdown, thereby enabling robust performance. Further, this talk introduces a facile fabrication technique that uses an inexpensive CNC heat sealing device to rapidly prototype HASELs. New designs of HASEL incorporate mechanisms to greatly reduce operating voltages, enabling the use of lightweight and portable electronics packages to drive untethered soft robotic devices powered by HASELs. Modeling results predict the impact of material parameters and scaling laws of these actuators, laying out a roadmap towards future HASEL actuators with drastically improved performance. These results highlight opportunities to further develop HASEL artificial muscles for wide use in next-generation robots that replicate the vast capabilities of biological systems.
Bio: Christoph Keplinger is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and a Fellow of the Materials Science and Engineering Program at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he also holds an endowed appointment serving as Mollenkopf Faculty Fellow. Building upon his background in soft matter physics (PhD, JKU Linz), mechanics and chemistry (Postdoc, Harvard University), he leads a highly interdisciplinary research group at Boulder, with a current focus on (I) soft, muscle-mimetic actuators and sensors, (II) energy harvesting and (III) functional polymers. His work has been published in top journals including Science, Science Robotics, PNAS, Advanced Materials and Nature Chemistry, as well as highlighted in popular outlets such as National Geographic. He has received prestigious US awards such as a 2017 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, and international awards such as the 2013 EAPromising European Researcher Award from the European Scientific Network for Artificial Muscles. He is the principal inventor of HASEL artificial muscles, a new technology that will help enable a next generation of life-like robotic hardware; in 2018 he co-founded Artimus Robotics to commercialize the HASEL technology.
Note: The Seminar Series is eligible for ECTS credits in the EDMI doctoral program.
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Mechanisms of lung cancer development: from tumor immunology to cellular metabolism
Abstract:
With approximately 1.8 million deaths each year, lung cancer has become the leading cause of cancer mortality in women and men worldwide. In the last fifteen years, great clinical progress has been made that offers new hope for patients, as exemplified by the advent of targeted therapies and more recently immunotherapies. Yet, current treatments only benefit a fraction of patients and rarely lead to a cure. To address the molecular and cellular mechanisms driving lung cancer growth and treatment resistance, my laboratory combines human tumor material, genetically-engineered mouse models, bioinformatics, and new research tools that we develop to manipulate both tumor cells and host cells. In this seminar, I will summarize our recent investigations and technology development in two intersecting major research areas: tumor immunology and cancer metabolism. First, in exploring tumor-infiltrating immune cells, we identified a population of neutrophils that promotes lung tumor progression as well as their resistance to immunotherapy. Second, in studying lung cancer metabolism, we found that tumor-associated neutrophils, similarly to lung tumor cells, upregulate the expression of high-affinity glucose transporters; this change rewires metabolic activity and fosters tumor growth. We are currently making use of the above findings to identify new pathways and vulnerabilities that could be exploited for simultaneously targeting tumor cells and non-cancerous, tumor-supporting neutrophils, with the ultimate goal to impact cancer growth and sensitize refractory tumors to immunotherapy.
Short bio:
Etienne Meylan received a PhD in Life Sciences from the University of Lausanne in 2006, for his work on innate immunity performed in the laboratory of Jürg Tschopp. From 2007 to 2010, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Tyler Jacks at MIT, Cambridge USA. In 2011, he established his research laboratory at ISREC, as a Swiss National Science Foundation Professor and since 2013 as a Tenure-track Assistant Professor. His laboratory studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms that contribute to the development of lung cancer, with a particular focus on alterations of tumor immunology and metabolism. Understanding these crucial perturbations of tumors may lead to a better comprehension of this devastating disease and to new perspectives of treatment.
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to be announced
BIOENGINEERING COLLOQUIA SERIES
(sandwiches served)
Abstract:
To be provided.
Bio:
Chad A. Mirkin, Ph.D., is the Director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology and the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry. Mirkin also is a professor of chemical and biological engineering, biomedical engineering, materials science & engineering, and medicine at Northwestern University.
Mirkin is a chemist and world-renowned nanoscience expert who is known for his discovery and development of spherical nucleic acids (SNAs), and the many medical diagnostic, therapeutic, and materials applications that have derived from them: Dip-Pen Naolithography (recognized by National Geographic as one of the "top 100 scientific discoveries that changed the world"); and numerous other contributions to supramolecular chemistry.
He is one of very few scientists elected into all three branches of the US National Academies (Medicine, Science, and Engineering). He served for eight years a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology under President Barack Obama. He has been recognized for his accomplishments with several national and international awards, including: the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in Convergence Research, the Dan David Prize, the Wilhelm Exner Medal, the RUSNANOPRIZE, the Dickson Prize in Science, the American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal, and the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize.
Mirkin holds a B.S. degree from Dickinson College (1986, elected into Phi Beta Kappa) and a Ph.D.in chemistry from The Pennsylvania State University (1989). He was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT prior to becoming a professor at Northwestern University in 1991.
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Assessment Matters
Comment évaluer les étudiants de façon valide et objective en mesurant notamment s'ils ont atteint les acquis de formation visées.
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to be announced
BIOENGINEERING COLLOQUIA SERIES
(sandwiches served)
Abstract:
To be provided.
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Nanocrystals as chemical building blocks
Nanoparticles have interesting analogies to molecules. Recent research has revealed that nanocrystals can align and fuse to larger single crystalline units (Oriented Attachment) or build self-assembled superstructures with mutual crystallographic order (Mesocrystals). These examples suggest that it should be possible to establish chemistry with nanocrystals as chemical building blocks. Nanocrystals are similar to molecules concerning active reaction sites and ability for directed interactions. Oriented attachment is analogous to chemical bond formation, while mesocrystal formation is analogous to non-covalent bonds in complexes between molecules. Key for the defined nanocrystal activation as chemical building unit is the selective adsorption/desorption of specially designed molecules on pre-defined crystal faces. Examples for this concept will be given for gold nanoparticles.
Alternatively, interaction of the nanocrystal surface adsorbed molecules can be induced, leading to mesocrystal formation. Examples will be given for magnetite mesocrystals and their analogies to classical crystals will be discussed. Also, first results on the formation of binary mesocrystals will be given, combining the properties of chemically different nanocrystals.
Bio: HELMUT CÖLFEN is full professor for physical chemistry at the university of Konstanz. His research interests are in the area of nucleation, classical and non-classical crystallization, Biomineralization, synthesis of functional polymers, directed self assembly of nanoparticles and fractionating methods of polymer and nanoparticle analysis. He has published more than 350 papers and was listed among the top 100 chemists 2000 – 2010 by Thomson Reuters.
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to be announced
BIOENGINEERING COLLOQUIA SERIES
(sandwiches served)
Abstract:
To be provided.
Bio:
David M. Sabatini is an American scientist and Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. He has been an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 2008 and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2016. He is known for his important contributions in the areas of cell signaling and cancer metabolism, most notably the discovery and study of mTOR, a protein kinase that is an important regulator of cell and organismal growth that is deregulated in cancer, diabetes, as well as the aging process.
Education:
MD/PhD 1997, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Research Summary:
We probe the basic mechanisms that regulate growth — the process whereby cells and organisms accumulate mass and increase in size. The pathways that control growth are often hindered in human diseases like diabetes and cancer. Our long-term goals are to identify and characterize these mechanisms, and to understand their roles in normal and diseased mammals.
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Prof. Paul Chao - IMT Distinguished Lecture
National Chiao Tung University Taiwan
Institute of Microengineering - Distinguished Lecture
Abstract and Bio to follow.
Note: The Seminar Series is eligible for ECTS credits in the EDMI doctoral program.
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to be announced
BIOENGINEERING COLLOQUIA SERIES
(sandwiches served)
Abstract:
To be provided.
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Research Data Management workshop
"Introduction" workshop
In this course, you will get an introduction to the main concepts of Research Data Management to apply them to your specific situation. Learning outcomes:
- Know the stakes around Research Data Management
- Discover how a Data Management Plan (DMP) can help you be more efficient in your research
- Get an overview of good practices to work with your data at the different stages of your project
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to be announced
BIOENGINEERING COLLOQUIA SERIES
(sandwiches served)
Abstract:
To be provided.
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Leveraging Labs for Learning
Explore ways to design lab experiments that help students develop a scientific approach which is transferable to real world complexity.
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Latsis Symposium 2019 on Diamond Photonics
The Latsis Symposium 2019 on Diamond Photonics at EPFL will be a unique event bringing together for the first time the worldwide leaders in diamond photonics. It will gather on EPFL campus the key international players of academic research in physics and photonics, in growth and fabrication technologies, together with companies engaged in bringing the applications of diamond photonics to the market. As a meeting point for physicists, engineers, materials scientists, and entrepreneurs, the symposium will decisively contribute to the emergence of novel quantum technologies in photonics, such as quantum-enhanced sensors and secure communication devices, and of novel industrial photonic components such as cavities for high power lasers.
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to be announced
BIOENGINEERING COLLOQUIA SERIES
(sandwiches served)
Abstract:
To be provided.
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to be announced
BIOENGINEERING COLLOQUIA SERIES
(sandwiches served)
Abstract:
To be provided.
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To be defined
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Dynamic optics for laser microfabrication and high-resolution microscopy
University of Oxford
Institute of Microengineering - Distinguished Lecture
Abstract: I will review recent work on using dynamic optical elements, such as deformable mirrors and spatial light modulators, to increase the capabilities of laser micro fabrication and optical microscopy. In particular, I will show how adaptive aberration correction and dynamic parallelisation can improve precision and reliability and increase the accessible volume and speed of these systems. Applications of our laser writing technology range from quantum optics, through radiation sensing to security marking of diamond gemstones. Our imaging methods include applications in cell biology, neuroscience and super-resolution microscopy.
Bio: Prof Booth is Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. His research group is based in the Department of Engineering Science and has many collaborations in other departments across Oxford. His research involves the development and application of adaptive optical methods in microscopy, laser-based materials processing and biomedical science. In 2012 Prof Booth was awarded the “Young Researcher Award in Optical Technologies” from the Erlangen School of Advanced Optical Technologies at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, and a visiting professorship at the university. In 2014 he was awarded the International Commission for Optics Prize. He was appointed Professor of Engineering Science in 2014. He has over one hundred publications in peer-reviewed journals, over fifteen patents, and has co-founded two spin-off companies, Aurox Ltd and Opsydia Ltd
Note: The Seminar Series is eligible for ECTS credits in the EDMI doctoral program.
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2019 World Conference of Science Journalists
The 11th World Conference of Science Journalists will be held from July 1st to July 5th, 2019, in Lausanne.
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CMOS Microelectronics for DNA detection using Ion-Sensitive Field Effect Transistors
Imperial College London
Institute of Microengineering - Distinguished Lecture
Abstract: In the last decade, we have seen a convergence of microelectronics into the world of healthcare providing novel solutions for early detection, diagnosis and therapy of disease. This has been made possible due to the emergence of CMOS technology, allowing fabrication of advanced systems with complete integration of sensors, instrumentation and processing, enabling design of miniaturised medical devices which operate with low-power. This has been specifically beneficial for the application areas of DNA based diagnostics and full genome sequencing, where the implementation of chemical sensors known as Ion-Sensitive Field Effect Transistors (ISFETs) directly in CMOS has enabled the design of large-scale arrays of millions of sensors that can conduct in-parallel detection of DNA. Furthermore, the scaling of CMOS with Moore’s law and the integration capability with microfluidics has enabled commercial efforts to make full genome sequencing affordable and therefore deployable in hospitals and research labs.
In this talk, I present how my lab is advancing the areas of DNA detection and rapid diagnostics through the design of CMOS based Lab-on-Chip systems using ISFETs. I will first introduce the fundamentals and physical properties of DNA as a target molecule and how it can be detected using different modalities through the use of CMOS technology. I will then present methods of design of ISFET sensors and instrumentation in CMOS, in addition to the challenges and limitations that exist for fabrication, providing solutions to allow design of large-scale ISFET arrays for real-time DNA amplification and detection systems. I will conclude with the presentation of state-of-the-art CMOS systems that are currently being used for genomics and point-of-care diagnostics, and the results of our latest fabricated multi-sensor CMOS platform for rapid screening of infectious disease and management of antimicrobial resistance.
Bio: Pantelis Georgiou currently holds the position of Reader (Associate Professor) at Imperial College London within the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He is the head of the Bio-inspired Metabolic Technology Laboratory in the Centre for Bio-Inspired Technology; a multi-disciplinary group that invents, develops and demonstrates advanced micro-devices to meet global challenges in biomedical science and healthcare. His research includes ultra-low power micro-electronics, bio-inspired circuits and systems, lab-on-chip technology and application of micro-electronic technology to create novel medical devices. Application areas of his research include new technologies for treatment of diabetes such as the artificial pancreas, novel Lab-on-Chip technology for genomics and diagnostics targeted towards infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and wearable technologies for rehabilitation of chronic conditions.
Dr. Georgiou graduated with a 1st Class Honours MEng Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2004 and Ph.D. degree in 2008 both from Imperial College London. He then joined the Institute of Biomedical Engineering as Research Associate until 2010, when he was appointed Head of the Bio-inspired Metabolic Technology Laboratory. In 2011, he joined the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, where he currently holds an academic faculty position. He conducted pioneering work on the silicon beta cell and is now leading the project forward to the development of the first bio-inspired artificial pancreas for treatment of Type I diabetes. In addition to this, he made significant contributions to the development of integrated chemical-sensing systems in CMOS. He has pioneered the development of the Ion-Sensitive Field Effect Transistor, an integrated pH sensor which is currently being used in next generation DNA sequencing machines, demonstrating for the first time its use in low-power weak-inversion, and its capability in a multimodal sensing array for Lab-on-Chip applications. Dr. Georgiou is a senior member of the IEEE and IET and serves on the BioCAS and Sensory Systems technical committees of the IEEE CAS Society. He is an associate editor of the IEEE Sensors and TBioCAS journals. He is also the CAS representative on the IEEE sensors council. In 2013 he was awarded the IET Mike Sergeant Achievement Medal for his outstanding contributions to engineering and development of the bio-inspired artificial pancreas. In 2017, he was also awarded the IEEE Sensors Council Technical Achievement award. He is an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer in Circuits and Systems.
Note: The Seminar Series is eligible for ECTS credits in the EDMI doctoral program.
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Prof. Debbie Senesky - IMT Distinguished Lecture
Stanford University
Institute of Microengineering - Distinguished Lecture
Abstract and Bio to follow.
Note: The Seminar Series is eligible for ECTS credits in the EDMI doctoral program.
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to be announced
BIOENGINEERING COLLOQUIA SERIES
(sandwiches served)
Abstract:
To be provided.
Bio:
Education:
1973-76 B.A., Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH (USA)
1977-82 Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Positions:
1982-85 Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (USA)
1984 Visiting Assistant Professor, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (USA)
1985-88 Assistant Professor, University of California, Irvine, CA (USA)
1988-91 Associate Professor, University of California, Irvine, CA (USA)
1991- Hannah Professor of Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (USA)
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Flexible Radios and Flexible Networks
Cornell University
Institute of Microengineering - Distinguished Lecture
Abstract: Over the past decades the world has become increasingly connected, with communications driving both markets and social movements. Low power electronics, efficient communications, and better battery technology have all contributed to this revolution, but the cost and power required for these systems must be pushed further to make cheap, ubiquitous, seamless communication accessible to a wider community. In this talk I will discuss two engineering approaches to this problem. I will look at various approaches to drive the power down in radio networks that span across circuits and systems. I will also look at creative biologically inspired approaches to enabling very low power networks and IoT. Finally, I will discuss how by adding flexibility and building reconfigurable hardware, we can likewise build lower power and less costly consumer systems that can adapt across protocols and networks and work under changing device technologies.
Bio: Alyssa Apsel received the B.S. from Swarthmore College in 1995 and the Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, in 2002. She joined Cornell University in 2002, where she is currently Director of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She was a Visiting Professor at Imperial College, London from 2016-2018. The focus of her research is on power-aware mixed signal circuits and design for highly scaled CMOS and modern electronic systems. Her current research is on the leading edge of ultra-low power and flexible RF interfaces for IoT. She has authored or coauthored over 100 refereed publications including one book in related fields of RF mixed signal circuit design, ultra-low power radio, interconnect design and planning, photonic integration, and process invariant circuit design techniques resulting in ten patents. She received best paper awards at ASYNC 2006 and IEEE SiRF 2012, had a MICRO “Top Picks” paper in 2006, received a college teaching award in 2007, received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2004, and was selected by Technology Review Magazine as one of the Top Young Innovators in 2004. She is a Distinguished Lecturer of IEEE CAS for 2018-2019, and has also served on the Board of Governors of IEEE CAS (2014-2016) and as an Associate Editor of various journals including IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I and II, and Transactions on VLSI. She has also served as the chair of the Analog and Signal Processing Technical committee of ISCAS 2011, is on the Senior Editorial Board of JETCAS, as Deputy Editor in Chief of Circuits and Systems Magazine, and as the co-founder and Chair of ISCAS Late Breaking News. In 2016, Dr. Apsel co-founded AlphaWave IP Corporation, a multi-national Silicon IP provider focused on multi-standard analog Silicon IP solutions for the world of IOT. As Chief Technology Officer of AlphaWave, Dr. Apsel led the company’s global research capability with offices in Silicon Valley, Toronto, and London.
Note: The Seminar Series is eligible for ECTS credits in the EDMI doctoral program.
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Merging Humans and Machines with Hydrogel Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT
Institute of Microengineering - Distinguished Lecture
Abstract: While human tissues and organs are mostly soft, wet and bioactive; machines are commonly hard, dry and biologically inert. Bridging human-machine interfaces is of imminent importance in addressing grand societal challenges in healthcare, security, sustainability, education and joy of living. However, interfacing human and machines is extremely challenging due to their fundamentally contradictory properties. At MIT SAMs Lab, we propose to harness “hydrogel technology” to form long-term, high-efficacy, compatible and seamless interfaces between humans and machines. On one side, hydrogels with similar mechanical and physiological properties as tissues and organs can naturally integrate with human body over the long term, greatly alleviating the foreign body response and mechanical mismatches. On the other side, the hydrogels with intrinsic or integrated electrodes, optical fibers, sensors, actuators and circuits can effectively bridge external machines and human bodies via electrical, optical, chemical and mechanical interactions. In this talk, I will first discuss the mechanisms to design extreme properties for hydrogels, including tough, resilient, adhesive, strong and antifatigue, for long-term robust human-machine interfaces. Then I will discuss a set of novel hydrogel devices that interface with the human body, including i). hydrogel neural probes capable of electro-opto-fluidic interrogation of single neurons in mice over life time; ii). ingestible hydrogel pills capable of continuously monitoring core-body physiological conditions over a month; and iii). untethered fast and forceful hydrogel robots controlled by magnetic fields for minimal invasive operations. I will conclude the talk by proposing a systematic approach to design next-generation human-machine interfaces based on hydrogel technology.
Bio: Xuanhe Zhao is an associate professor in mechanical engineering at MIT. His research group designs soft materials that possess unprecedented properties to address grant societal challenges. Dr. Zhao is the recipient of the early career award and young investigator award from National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, Society of Engineering Science, American Vacuum Society, Adhesion Society, Materials Today, Journal of Applied Mechanics, and Extreme Mechanics Letters. He held the Hunt Faculty Scholar at Duke, and the d'Arbeloff Career Development Chair and Noyce Career Development Professor at MIT. He was selected as a highly cited researcher by Web of Science in 2018.
Note: The Seminar Series is eligible for ECTS credits in the EDMI doctoral program.
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