Portable gas sensors can allow you to search for explosives, diagnose medical conditions through a patient’s breath, and decide whether it’s safe to stay in a mine. These devices do all this by identifying and measuring airborne chemicals, and a new, more sensitive, “smart” model is under development at the University of Michigan. The smart sensor could detect chemical weapon vapors or indicators of disease better than the current design. It also consumes less power, crucial for stretching battery life down a mineshaft or in isolated clinics.
In the “gold standard” method of gas detection, chemicals are separated before they are measured, said Xudong “Sherman” Fan, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
“In a vapor mixture, it’s very difficult to tell chemicals apart,” he said.
The main advance of the sensor designed by Fan and his colleagues at U-M and the University of Missouri, Columbia, is a better approach to divvying up the chemicals. The researchers have demonstrated their concept on a table-top set-up, and they hope to produce a hand-held device in the future.
Ram Rao was recently selected to be a Fellow on the Frankel Commercialization Fund at the Ross School of Business. Ram is part of Professor Jan Stegemann’s Cell Matrix Interactions & Tissue Engineering (CMITE) Lab. “The Frankel Commercialization Fund (FCF) is a pre-seed investment fund established to identify and accelerate the commercialization of ideas generated within the University community and the surrounding area.”
Adrienne Alimasa, BME MS student working with Professor Ken Kozloff, received a Rackham Centennial Spring Summer Fellowship. Students will receive a stipend of $6,000 to work on research, scholarly, or creative projects in collaboration with faculty mentors during the Spring/Summer 2012 term to advance progress towards the degree and their future impact as “Michigan Graduate Students in the World.”
Three outstanding BME program Ph.D students have been selected to receive a 2012 Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship for the year 2012-2013. Ariel Hecht working in Professor Raoul Kopelman’s Lab, Aftin Ross with Prof. Joerg Lahann’s group, and Erik Yusko working with Professor Michael Mayer’s Biomembrane Lab all received the 2012 fellowship. The award will consist of a stipend and tuition coverage for 3 terms. To honor the award recipients there will be a reception in early April. Congratulations to all 3 BME students for being selected to receive this competitive award.
Coulter Translational
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