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Joseph L. Katz, professor emeritus, celebrates a half-century of academic work.

IN THIS ISSUE: Professor Katz Moves to Professor Emeritus DEPARTMENT NEWS...... 2 n the Saturday eve of Labor Day weekend, What’s more, he has been honored as Maryland nearly 100 colleagues, friends, and family Chemist of the Year, a John Simon Guggenheim STUDENT INVOLVEMENT . . . . 3 Omembers gathered at the Inn at the Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of AWARDS & HONORS ...... 4 Colonnade restaurant in Baltimore to celebrate the Science Fellow, and American Physical Society Fellow. FACULTY NEWS ...... 5 academic work of Joseph L. Katz, considered by He also is creator of an international biennial nucle- FACULTY RESEARCH...... 8 many to be a founding father of the Whiting School ation symposium. of ’s Department of Chemical and “Globally, Joe is the leading expert in the field of ALUMNI NEWS...... 9 . Guests included colleagues nucleation phenomena. He is the expert in the world COMMUNITY OUTREACH . . . 10 from as far away as Japan and as close as WSE’s in that field,” says ChemBE Professor and WSE Vice Maryland Hall, where Katz maintains a spacious sun- Dean for Research Marc Donohue. “Here at Hopkins, lit office as professor emeritus. he has had a tremendous impact on the culture and A world expert in homogeneous nucleation (the value system of the department.” process that includes the making of bubbles in the Katz’s arrival at Hopkins in 1979 coincided with beer and champagne served at the event), Katz has a the Whiting School again being named a separate reputation among faculty as an intellectual power- academic division on the Homewood campus. At house and among students as a tough but fair, and the time, the department had only two professors, somewhat intimidating, professor. On this night, Katz William Schwartz and Stanley Corrsin, both now says he was doing something he rarely does—smiling deceased. From Clarkson College of Technology in in every single picture. “It was a wonderful, wonder- Potsdam, New York, Katz brought with him A student tests a Chem-E-Car before ful event,” says Katz, of the night that capped a Donohue, who had been his student. Together, Katz, the competition at the AIChE Mid-Atlantic 50-year career. Donohue, Schwartz, and Corrsin became the found- Regional Conference. See page 3. Katz, from Colon, Panama, has produced a body ing fathers of a department that today has 14 tenured of work worthy of celebration. To his credit: more and tenure-track professors. than 500 invited lectures at society meetings, univer- Within two years, Katz was elevated to chair, his sities, government laboratories, and industrial research first of four stints in that position. At the time, the facilities; 90 non-duplicating refereed publications; department was in transition. “Joe was responsible for more than 4,500 literature citations; and four patents. Continued on page 6

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Message from the Chair Denis Wirtz Honored as

Dear JHU ChemBE Friends and Alumni, Theophilus Halley Smoot Professor t is a pleasure to share with you our exciting Idepartment highlights. Our colleague enis Wirtz, professor of chemical and Professor Joseph “Joe” Katz has retired after Dbiomolecular engineering and director 31 years. Joe is known internationally for his of Johns Hopkins’ Engineering in groundbreaking work in nucleation. And those Center, was named the Theophilus Halley of us who have worked with Joe know he is Smoot Professor in the Whiting School of not only an accomplished scientist and great Engineering by university President Ronald for and de-adhesion will prove innovator, but he is a terrific mentor and J. Daniels and the board of trustees. critical to our understanding of the metastasis teacher. Wirtz, the founding associate director of and enable important breakthroughs We also congratulate Professor Denis Wirtz, of the Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBio- in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in the director of the Engineering in Oncology Technology, was elected years to come.” Center, on being named the a 2009 fellow of the The Smoot Professorship was established Theophilus Halley Smoot Professor American Academy for the in 1981 through the estate of Theophilus in the Whiting School of Engi- Advancement of Science H. Smoot, who joined Johns Hopkins as a neering. And we are fortunate to in the Engineering Section research assistant in the Department of have hired Assistant Professor for his contributions to cell Mechanical Engineering in 1942 and in 1946 Honggang Cui (see p. 5), who will micromechanics, cell adhe- became a research associate in the department. further the department’s work in sion, and the development Upon the passing of Mr. Smoot in 1976 and nanobiotechnology. and application of particle tracking methods of his widow, Helen A. Smoot, in 1980, the National graduate school rankings, released that probe the micromechanical properties of Theophilus Halley Smoot Fund for Engi- by the National Research Council, show that living cells. neering Science was created. The first Smoot our department included the nation’s highest Wirtz is on the editorial boards of Professorship was awarded in 1981 to former percentage of assistant professors in our disci- Biophysical Journal, Cell Adhesion and Migration professor, Stanley Corrsin. Robert E. Green Jr., pline. Given our early-career faculty, it was and Journal of Nanomedicine . In 2005, he was professor in the Department of Materials good news to learn that we ranked 23rd in named a fellow of the American Institute for Science, held the professorship from 1988 faculty research productivity (quantified by the Medical and Biological Engineering. Wirtz through 2007. number of published papers per faculty mem- won a National Science Foundation CAREER ber) and 14th in research impact (quantified by Award in 1996 and the Whitaker Foundation the number of citations per published article). Biomedical Engineering Foundation Award Since rankings data were released in 2005, we in 1997. have increased our research output, doubled our In an announcement from the Whiting annual research expenditures per faculty, and School’s dean, Nick Jones, it was stated that, expanded our ChemBE graduate program from “Throughout his time at Johns Hopkins, 45 PhD and one MSE students to 79 PhD and Denis has distinguished himself as an out- 19 MSE students and 25 postdoctoral fellows. standing scholar and teacher. Additionally, Our undergraduate enrollment also grew from Denis’ role as a catalyst for interdisciplinary 250 to 315 students. research and collaboration at the university has Most importantly, since 2005, 17 ChemBE proven extremely effective, both in terms of doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows have the research he conducts and the support he ChemBE BOND Editorial Team: secured tenure-track faculty appointments in has attracted over the years. I am confident Department Chair: Konstantinos Konstantopoulos, PhD premier national and international universities. that his current research into the physical basis Senior Editor: Jeffrey Gray, PhD All of these facts indicate that our department Consulting Editors/Writers: Abby Lattes, Mary Beth Regan, is poised to excel in years to come. Phil Sneiderman, Mary Spiro Coordinating Editors: Erin Wilhelm, Emilee Romano Best wishes, Design: Marketing and Creative Services Published annually by the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University; 221 Maryland Hall, 3400 North Charles Street, Konstantinos Konstantopoulos Baltimore, MD 21218 Professor and Department Chair 410-516-7170 / [email protected]

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JHU Undergrads Host AIChE Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference

hen undergraduates Eric Lam, William WBagdorf, and Kyrstina Laucik began planning the 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, held on the Homewood campus April 16–18, they expected a solid turnout. But the level of participation and outpouring of support surprised even the enthusiastic organizers. “Everyone did an excellent job,” says Bagdorf, incoming presi- Siah Hong Tan, with Sravanti Kusuma and Sharon Gerecht, placed second in the research poster dent of the Whiting School’s AIChE student presentation contest. chapter. The record-setting attendance included more than 260 students from 24 top East Coast engineering programs who traveled to Baltimore to take part in the event. Conference highlights included the stu- dent research paper competition, research poster competition, and the popular ChemE car competition. “It was a great success,” says Joelle Frechette, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and the group’s faculty adviser. “The students organized an amazing event and their hard work paid off.” The event was so successful that Frechette was awarded the AIChE student chapter adviser award, and ChemBE undergrads, Students gather at the Belvedere to conclude the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Regional including Bagdorf, were invited by national Conference, held in April 2010. representatives to travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, in November for the 2010 national conference. There, they presented a workshop ence, and students’ egos and money are at Hopkins team, headed by Peter Li, used a on successful planning to train other student stake. Regional winners receive cash prizes simple reduction reaction of cooper and mag- groups hosting regional events. from the AIChE, and the top five finishers nesium to generate current and hold a voltage “Everything went smoothly,” Bagdorf move on to the national competition, where of 1.2 volts, or nearly the same as one AAA says. “By bringing the conference to our cam- they compete for $2,000 from Chevron, the battery. The catch: The team had to use 25 pus, every Hopkins student was given the event’s sponsor. customized, hand-made batteries to maintain opportunity to network with industry profes- Inside Hopkins’ crowded, hot gymnasium the current necessary. Their car traveled 33 sionals and other ChemBE students.” the 15 teams, after passing the safety inspec- feet, 1 inch and placed seventh. Students enjoyed an action-packed week- tion, nervously awaited the announcement This year, Bagdorf says, the Hopkins car end. On Saturday Lam was busy directing regarding the distance cars would travel, and team is back at the drawing board, with Li traffic to the highly anticipated car competi- the load they would carry. In this case: 65 heading the effort. And the chapter is focusing tion. For this event, students had to design feet, carrying 400 ml of water. “Right now on campus events that were put on hold last and build chemically powered vehicles that our car is running backwards,” fretted one year because of the conference. Plans include a could carry a specified cargo and travel a speci- visiting student. mentoring programming that pairs freshmen fied distance—variables that would be defined In the end, most cars performed splendid- and sophomores with upperclassmen, a gradu- only an hour before the competition began. ly. Manhattan College and Bucknell ate-school panel discussion, plant tours, a triv- “It’s going great, amazingly well,” said University elicited cheers when they finished ia competition with professors, and the annual Lam, who now works in Chicago, an hour one and two inches, respectively, from the BBQ on the quad. “We hope to keep partici- before the competition began. The competi- goal. “It’s rare that even one team is able to pation levels high by bringing back many of tion is a highlight of every regional confer- stop so close to the goal,” said Bagdorf. The our annual events,” he says.

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Faculty Awards papers addressed the switching Marc Ostermeier , ’10 won third place in the Research mechanism in low-density self- associate professor, Paper Presentation and Siah Hong Dilip Asthagiri , assembled monolayers, the mechani- had a very successful Tan and Yagmur Muftuoglu ’11 won assistant professor, cal nature of electrowetting, and a year obtaining second and third place, respectively, has published his deterministic method for particle research funding. for the Research Poster Presentation. work on ion selectivity separation. Grants received in 2009-2010 include Brian Benson ’10, Anum Azam ’10, in biological media as a renewed NIH RO1 and two NSF Ryan Harrison ’10, Ryan Bloom ’09, a cover “Frontiers” article in Chemical Sharon Gerecht , grants, and he is co-PI on a grant and Dennis Ko ’09 won NSF Physics Letters in 2010. His 2009 assistant professor, from DTRA. Graduate Research Fellowships. paper on ion selectivity appeared in was selected as a Sarah Schrier ’10 received an the research highlights section of the member of the Denis Wirtz , the Honorable Mention. Biophysical Journal . Unified Peer Review Theophilus Halley Consortium of the American Heart Smoot Professor, was Brian Benson ’10 , All-USA College Michael Beten- Association for regenerative cell elected a Fellow of Academic Team by USA Today ; Rachel baugh , professor, biology. the AAAS for his Truitt ’10 received Honorable Mention. received the 2010 contributions in cell bioengineering. Siah-Hong Tan ’11 and Michael , Merck Cell Culture David Gracias Wirtz has received a training grant for Gardner ’11 received Vredenburg Engineering Award Associate Professor, for Cancer , Scholarships, for summer projects in has 14 papers (pub- for his work on cell engineering in which supports eight to 10 students. Germany. insect and mammalian cell culture. lished or accepted) Danica Sheth ’11 and Moon Young He was also honored as the Otto and one patent received Provost’s Monsted Visiting Professor in the granted in 2010. Among these Undergraduate “Liza” Lee ’12 Systems Biology Department at Den- papers, four were published as cover Undergraduate Research Awards. mark Technical University in 2009. articles in the Journal of the American Student Awards Elenora Streb Muly awards supported Chemical Society, Small, and His work is funded by the NSF, NIH, American Institute of Chemical Engi- research by Sarah Abaza ’11, Advanced Materials (2). His research and the Maryland Stem Cell neers (AIChE) Award for Scholastic Colleen Quinlan ’12, Daniel Wolozny was featured as one of the winning Research Fund. Achievement: Sarah Pulicare ’11 , ’12, and Natasha Seelam ’13 . innovations in the years ahead in The Philip Yang ’11, Levi Kanu ’11, Wall Street Journal and highlighted in German Drazer , Siah Hong Tan ’11, Eric Tzeng ’11 assistant professor, Nature Photonics and Nature Chemis- Paul A.C. Cook Award from the received an NSF try . Gracias received the Humboldt Graduate Student & Chemical and Biomolecular Engineer- CAREER Award Fellowship for Experienced Research- ing Department: Postdoc Fellowships for proposed novel ers, a grant from the Iacocca Family Chris Deal ’11, separation methods based on ther- Foundation focused on the develop- Kiersten Dockney ’11 & Awards modynamic partitioning in patterned ment of a bio-artificial pancreas, and Loy Wilkinson Award: Krystina Laucik Clay Wright received an NSF devices studied both theoretically and one from the NSF on complex systems. ’10 and Nicole Lake ’10 Graduate Research Fellowship . experimentally. He discovered phase- Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Kate Laflin won a Northrup locking dynamics in deterministic Jeffrey Gray , Undergraduate Research Award: Grumman Graduate Research separation devices and established associate professor, Sarah Schrier ’10, Vivek Bose ’11, Fellowship . its basis on dynamical systems became a co-PI of a Sunny Mai ’10, Aasiyeh Zarafashar and bifurcation theory using Poincare grant from DARPA to Noy Bassik won the 2010 Materials ’10, Michael Keung ’10, Donghoon maps (work performed with a engineer antibodies Research Society Spring Meeting Shin ’10, Jennifer Griesler ’10, Hopkins undergraduate). in collaboration with researchers at Graduate Student Silver Award . Sylvia Sohn ’10 UNC and the University of Texas. Four Noy Bassik and Chris Hale were PhD students from Gray’s lab com- Joseph L Katz Award: Rachel Truitt ’10, Joelle Frechette , selected to represent the US delega- pleted their dissertations in the 2009- Steve Hu ’10, Richard Carrick ’10 assistant professor, tion of doctoral students at the 60th 2010 academic year. was awarded the Philip Yang ’11 won the Fisher Award Nobel laureate meeting in Lindau, W.H. Huggins Excel- for excelling in a cancer-related Germany. lence in Teaching Konstantinos research program. Prabha Shalini Raman won a Award and the Oustanding Student Konstantopoulos , Gulsum Meric ’11 won the Genen- predoctoral fellowship from the Chapter Adviser Award from the professor and chair, tech Process Research and Develop- American Heart Association. AIChE in 2010. With German Drazer, was elected a Fellow ment Outstanding Student Award. she is a co-investigator on a new NSF of the American Rubin Almaraz won a postdoctoral grant to study particle deposition on Institute for Medical and Biologi- At the 2010 AIChE Mid-Atlantic fellowship from the National Cancer heterogeneous surfaces. Her recent cal Engineering. Regional Conference, Sarah Schrier Institute.

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After decoration with two Nanomaterials for bioactive peptides, a Biomedical Applications: nanoparticle with anisotro- pic surface chemistry can A Discussion with New Assistant improve therapies through enhanced cell targeting, Professor Honggang Cui adhesion, and penetration. olecules are like human beings, each “M one having its own personality,” says Assistant Professor Honggang Cui, who began teaching in the ChemBE Department this fall. Cui will focus his research on understand- ing the so-called personalities of different types of molecules so that he can combine them to achieve desired functions that do not necessari- ly, or directly, relate to the chemical structure drug molecules,” Cui says. “We are designing perform one signaling task. of the individual molecules. Characterizing the intermolecular interactions of drug molecules so Cui explains, “We’re developing new strate- properties of molecules must occur on the scale that they can contribute to assembling into gies to fabricate nanostructures with a well- of atoms—the nanoscale. nanoarchitectures. We are also fabricating meth- defined surface of bioactive peptides that could The Cui lab is particular- ods of drug-independent, cell-specific nanostruc- provide specific signals for cell adhesion, cell ly interested in developing tures. Both approaches will allow us to have migration, and controlled cellular uptake.” polymeric, peptidic, and access to nanoparticles with a quantitative A third project addresses light-powered drug-based nanomaterials loading of drug molecules. The resulting nano- nanopropellers—nanoscale devices that are that offer specific chemical, structures are also expected to improve pharma- capable of converting energy into movement physical, and mechanical cokinetics and allow for controlled release.” and that have the potential to impact nano- signals to targeted cells. Cui’s work in functional nanostructures medicine, nanoscale cargo transport, and chem- Using their knowledge of the properties of with well-defined surface patterns addresses the ical sensing. Current synthetic nanomachines molecules, they will construct functional soft challenge of precisely controlling interactions are still very primitive compared to biomotors nanomaterials like nanospheres, nanofibers, or with targeted biological objects, such as cancer discovered in nature. One challenge Cui faces is vesicles able to interact with specific cells, such or epithelial cells, when developing discrete identifying new fuel sources to power nanomo- as . Their research includes the design, nanostructures for biomedical imaging, tumor tors in various environments. fabrication, characterization, and biomedical diagnosis, and drug delivery. Although the “This project investigates strategies to applications of these soft matter nanomaterials complex interaction of nanomaterials with fabricate nanostructures that can effectively with an emphasis on rational engineering of cells is governed by the chemical, physical, and convert visible light into mechanical energy.” their surface chemistry. mechanical properties of the nanomaterials, Cui’s objective is to build a platform to utilize Cui’s lab will focus on three research areas: the surface properties of nanostructures are the light-harvesting molecules to power asymmetric the molecular engineering of anticancer drugs, primary factor that determines how they will architectures on the nanoscale. Cui adds, “We functional nanostructures with controlled sur- interact with cells. are also looking to develop novel assembly face patterns, and light-powered nanopropellers. “We are trying to learn the biological strategies to control the intermolecular order For example, the effective delivery of small language that cells speak so that we can make of organic semiconductors so as to improve molecule anticancer drugs to tumor sites nanoparticles talk to them,” says Cui. The pri- the efficiency of electron transport.” remains a challenge in cancer chemotherapy. mary way that cells communicate with other Cui looks forward to working with his The poor water solubility of these drugs, cells and their surroundings is through protein- colleagues in ChemBE. “I am very excited to be combined with their cytotoxicity to normal protein interactions, more precisely, through a part of a collegial group of highly passionate cells, means that intravenous administration short peptide sequences that are presented on scientists and researchers,” Cui says. “Given my of the drugs typically requires either chemical the protein surface. Cui’s lab is trying to identi- research background, I could potentially collabo- modification by adding a water soluble group fy these bioactive sequences and incorporate rate with anyone in the department. I think I am or the use of delivery vehicles, such as viruses, them onto the surface of his nanoparticles. really lucky the department brought me here.” liposomes, or synthetic nanoparticles. “Simply putting these sequences on the In order to minimize the side effects of nanoparticle surface and hoping it will work is Cui joined the department in August after an introducing modified chemicals or new materi- sort of naive,” Cui says. The challenges he faces appointment as a postdoctoral fellow of materials als other than the drug itself, the drug loading science and engineering at Northwestern are determining how to present peptides in the University. He has a BS in polymers from Beijing capacity must be increased, ideally in a right conformation, and more importantly, University of Chemical Technology, an MS in controlled manner. how to arrange different types of peptides in a materialogy/ from Tsinghua “The objective of this project is to develop controlled manner. This step is critical because University, and a PhD in and a novel route to produce nanoarchitectures of sometimes multiple peptides are required to engineering from the University of Delaware.

THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL AND BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING 5 Joe Katz , continued from page 1 establishing the intellectual atmosphere of the department,” Donohue says. That intellectual climate is best understood in the context of Katz’s own life. The eldest of four sons, Katz was born in Colon to parents who fled anti-Semitism in the 1930s in Eastern Hungary. Recognized as a child with intellectual gifts, Katz, by age 12, was sent to study at a yeshiva in Chicago. He briefly returned to Panama as a teen, but came to the United States in the late 1950s to study chem- istry. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1960 with a BS in chemistry; he Katz, 6, offers his first thoughts on nucleation theory. The Katz family, Liliane, Joe, Alan and Daniel. received his PhD in chemistry three years later. “I had to double up on my studies,” Katz recalls of the feat. “I studied physical chemistry Many alumni remember Katz for his Senior on my own. When I took the exam, I shocked ChemE laboratory curriculum. “ChemE lab my teachers. They asked me, ‘Have you ever was by far the toughest academic experience seen these problems before?’ I told them: ‘Yes. that I have ever had and the most memorable,” I went to the library and looked at every single says Shashi Murthy ’99, who heads the exam. I sat down and did every single prob- Biological Surface Engineering and Microfluids lem. And then I did every single problem in Laboratory at Northeastern University. “It was the whole damn book.’ They said, ‘OK, then, physically and psychologically demanding to you get your A in physical chemistry.’” be in the lab and tasked with ‘characterizing a He spent a year as an instructor at the piece of equipment’ with only the knowledge University of Copenhagen before joining the from prior coursework and the pressure of hav- technical staff of North American Rockwell ing to justify every step of our work in the form Science Center in Thousand Oaks, California. of presentations to Drs. Katz and Donohue.” Shortly after, he married Liliane Capelluto, Katz says his approach was designed to raised in the Belgian Congo. Together, they teach students how to think. “The difference have two sons, Daniel and Alan. between engineering and science is that engi- At North American Rockwell, Katz neers recognize that sometimes our science isn’t conducted work that led to his prominence good enough. But it’s good enough to relate as a nucleation leader. Until the late 1960s, this to that,” he says. “We reduce what we have nucleation data were inconsistent, and only to measure, and then using what we know, we a poorly defined onset of nucleation was can predict how other things will behave.” measured. Katz developed the diffusion cloud Daniel Katz, PhD, Katz’s son, who also chamber to such an extent that his data are studied at the University of Chicago but considered the world’s reference data (see received his PhD in applied physics at Harvard, page 7). He left North American Rockwell says his father has always valued academic hon- esty. “He insists that people really understand Katz, as Zorro, attends the annual ChemBE for Clarkson in 1970. Halloween Party in 2003. When he arrived at WSE in 1979, Katz set what they are talking about,” the younger about shaping the department. His intent: to Katz says. “He doesn’t gloss over things and produce students who think independently and he doesn’t have a lot of patience for ambiguity. sunny office, with its grand 15-foot ceilings, he become leaders in the engineering field. “The As a result, he tends to force better thinking. scoffs at the suggestion that he will spend retire- Hopkins of the late 1960s had a reputation In a university setting, that is critical.” ment playing tennis, reading, relaxing. More of turning out kids who were only good for Katz has had two breakthrough periods likely, he will be working—mentally. “That’s PhDs,” Katz says. “We needed our students where his insights have altered the course of why I kept the office, kept the laboratory,” to be competent in every area of engineering. nucleation theory. Now, freed from the pres- he says. “This is what I love to do.” And once They had to be able to think independently, sures of teaching and university committees, he again, Katz smiles. and they had to be able to communicate with is turning attention to a few questions that have working engineers.” perplexed him. Does he consider himself on the verge of another breakthrough? Standing in his

6 jhu.edu/chembe Katz and Kelly Davis at the senior picnic held at the Katz home in 2004.

“He insists that people really Katz, Jeff Fisk, Markus Rudeck in Germany. understand what they are talking about. He doesn’t gloss over things and he doesn’t have a lot of patience for ambiguity. As a result, he tends to force better thinking. In a university setting, that is critical.”

—DANIEL KATZ, PHD, SON OF JOSEPH KATZ

The 2003 senior picnic for faculty and students.

Homogeneous Nucleation Theory a more general form of nucleation theory, one is what causes the cladding metal of nuclear that applied to all substances, including ones reactor fuel rods to warp and swell). Katz Joseph L. Katz’s work focuses on homoge- which are extensively clustered. showed that what controlled this process was neous nucleation, which requires superheating Later, Katz again increased the applicabil- not the concentration of vacancies, but rather or supercooling of a medium. Examples: the ity of nucleation theory. The theory he created the ratio of the vacancy concentration to the creation of vapor bubble nuclei in superheated was also valid when multiple processes were concentration of interstitial atoms. Here it is liquid; or the spontaneous freezing of water simultaneously occurring in the nucleation better to think of the second path as a second droplets as clusters of water molecules within process. process. The first process is the growth of a droplet. Katz is known for his contributions vacancy clusters by accreting vacancies, to both theory and measurement of nucleation Three examples: the second is being the accreting of interstitial processes. His data are considered the world’s • Nucleation of a drop of liquid on a surface atoms by the vacancy cluster, thus making reference. from molecules in the vapor and simultane- the cluster smaller . Until Katz’s groundbreaking work, nucle- ously from molecules diffusing on the surface; ation theory used the approximation that What all these examples have in common • Nucleation from the vapor of a substance cluster formation occurs by the addition of a is that the nuclei themselves need only one which is formed by a chemical reaction when single molecule at a time in competition with variable to describe them. It does not matter there are two simultaneously occurring paths; its reverse process of the loss of a single how many different ways there are of forming 1. reaction in the vapor followed by nucleation molecule at a time. But, Katz says, for many them; if one is sufficiently ingenious, it is pos- of the reaction product; 2. reaction on the substances, there are appreciable concentra- sible to create a version of nucleation theory surface of subcritical-sized clusters followed by tions of dimers and larger-sized clusters that predicts the rate of nucleation. Figuring growth on these clusters to supercritical size. (e.g., methanol, water, acetic acid). out how to do so is not straightforward and For such substances Katz showed that • Nucleation of vacancies in metal, thus form- each of the above examples took Katz many the approximation of single molecule addition ing voids since a clump of vacancies actually is months to invent. Thanks to Katz, this method in cluster formation was inaccurate. He created a void. (This nucleation of vacancies into voids is fully general.

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Tuning bacteria from the outside.

ou don’t buy a different radio for every radio station you want to “Y receive. You buy one radio with a dial so you can easily tune in to any station you want to hear.” This is how, by analogy, ChemBE Associate Professor Marc Ostermeier explains the importance of his group’s recent foray into the field of synthetic biology. The field of synthetic biology seeks to design, construct, and understand new biologi- cal functions and systems not found in nature. One approach to achieving this goal is to build simple networks of genes that carry out a specific function in the cells that contain them. For example, two papers from 2000 that are widely cited as jump-starting the field describe engineered E. coli The Ostermeier lab’s band-pass bacteria grow and fluoresce in a pattern that spells “JHU” as an illustration cells that function as a toggle switch and an of how externally tunable genetic circuits can be used to break symmetry in pattern formation in response to chemical gradients. oscillator. It’s no coincidence that the terms “switch” and “oscillator” may remind you of tronic band-pass filter allows frequencies to pass tant during development so that different cells electronic circuits. Synthetic biologists often through the filter, provided they fall within a turn into skin cells, lung cells, liver cells, etc., seek to emulate electronic circuits in their defined range. The band-pass bacteria only at the right time and in the right spatial orien- design, touting the modularity and versatility emit fluorescent light or survive if certain com- tation. The details of these processes are very of electronic components. pounds fall within a certain range. The “dial” important but, in large part, unknown. What Papers published last year in the Proceedings for the biological band-pass filter is the concen- we show with our simple bacteria is that exter- of the National Academy of Sciences and the tration of different compounds that move the nally tunable circuits are a way to pattern cells Journal of Biological Engineering describe the acceptable range up or down. in a way that breaks symmetry in response to Ostermeier lab engineering E. coli bacteria to “Others have used genetic engineering chemical gradients.” behave like an electronic band-pass filter that techniques to create bacteria that can be tuned Although the principles behind the can be tuned from outside the cell. An elec- by changing their genetic program, but this is Ostermeier lab’s band-pass bacteria might be akin to building a new device for every circuit used some day to pattern cell growth and dif- setting that you want,” says Ostermeier. “We ferentiation for applications in tissue and stem “Others have used genetic designed one bacteria with one genetic pro- cell engineering, Ostermeier has a completely gram that can be tuned to whatever band posi- different agenda in mind at the moment. engineering techniques to create tion you want.” Ostermeier adds that a special He received an NSF grant this year from the bacteria that can be tuned by genetic circuit they built, containing an Division of Environmental Biology, Population enzyme substrate pair at a critical position, was and Evolutionary Processes Group to apply the changing their genetic program, key to achieving this external tuning. band-pass bacteria as a tool to address funda- The ability to tune genetic circuits offers mental questions in evolution. but this is akin to building a new versatility, as illustrated by the radio analogy. The band-pass bacteria were developed by device for every circuit setting But it also allows researchers to pattern cell Richard Heins, PhD ’10, visiting scientist behavior in ways that would be difficult to Takayuki Sohka, and Jennifer Greisler ’10 in that you want.” —MARC OSTERMEIER achieve otherwise. “Cells respond to cues in collaboration with Professors Craig Townsend their environment,” continues Ostermeier. “In and Ryan Phelan from the Department of fact, certain cues called morphogens are impor- Chemistry.

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Sam Lai, PhD ’07 joined the Eshelman School of In Memory of Sarah K. Doshna, ’96 BS Chemical Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel & Biomolecular Engineering Hill as an assistant professor in the fall of 2010. His research focuses on infectious diseases and drug he department is deeply saddened to report that Sarah K. Doshna delivery to and imaging of metastatic tumors. T ’96, P.E., passed away on Thursday, July 8, 2010. Sarah was born in Akron, Ohio, on May 11, 1974 and since graduating from Johns Hopkins, resided in Flemington, New Jersey. After completing her undergraduate degree, Sarah was employed by Justin Olsson, BS ’07 is a legal fellow with the Environmental Defense Fund and next year he will join the law firm Goodwin Procter to work Merck & Co., Inc., until 2003 when she was offered a senior position in its venture capital and clean/green tech areas. at Bristol-Myers Squibb where, most recently, she held the position of director of clinical supply operations. Sarah is survived by her husband, Tom Mansell, BS ’04 MSE ’05 Jeffrey Peter Doshna, ’96 Economics, and their three sons, Noah, used the skills he developed in Benjamin, and Samuel. the Ostermeier lab to pursue his PhD at Cornell. His research Throughout her career, Sarah committed a considerable amount of involves the creation of tools her personal time and energy to enhancing the educational experience to engineer protein folding, of the students in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular interactions, and novel post- Engineering. Each spring, she traveled to campus to give a guest lecture translational modifications such as glycosylation in the periplasm to undergraduates in Professor Mike Betenbaugh’s class and frequently of E. coli . He moonlights as a spoke with Hopkins students about careers in the pharmaceutical indus- wine science writer and publishes a blog covering the science of wine try. She was instrumental in recruiting students for summer internships and beer at http://ithacork.com. and full-time positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb and was a valuable part- ner to the JHU Career Center. Additionally, in January 2007, she was Yiider Tseng, PhD ’99 , postdoc in ChemBE , is an associate professor at the University the keynote speaker at the launch party for the Johns Hopkins Chapter of Florida. His lab recently published a paper in of AIChE/SBE—a professional academic group that combines both the Biophysical Journal describing the use of Kalman American Institute of Chemical Engineers with the Society for Biological filters to correct microscopy videos to better track Engineers. Sarah served as an advisor to numerous Johns Hopkins stochastic subcellular motions. engineering students, and took a special interest in mentoring female colleagues. Frequently, she kept in touch with students even after their internships were finished as a way to enhance their successful transition to industry upon graduation. If you have any news you would like to share with Sarah was known as an expert in the field of pharmaceuticals, particu- fellow alumni and friends, please submit your updates to larly within ISPE (International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering) [email protected] or mail us at and was often invited to give lectures at their conferences. Her expertise 221 Maryland Hall in pharmaceutical formulation and processing was recognized throughout 3400 North Charles Street the industry. Through her professional accomplishments and personal Baltimore, MD 21218 interactions, Sarah had a profound impact on her profession and her Your news will appear in the next issue of ChemBE Bond ! colleagues. A memorial fund in Sarah’s name has been established at the university that will benefit chemical and biomolecular engineering undergraduates. Follow @JHU_ChemBE on Twitter! Gifts may be sent to the Whiting School Development and Alumni Relations Office at 3400 N. Charles Street, 400 Wyman, Baltimore, MD 21218, or made online at engineering.jhu.edu/give-to-wse. (Please indicate Connect with more alums through our the Sarah Doshna Memorial Fund). LinkedIn group at http://linkd.in/h2TLMQ

THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL AND BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING 9 3"//6$)0;&"60,*23#Community Outreach

ChemBE Expertise on Exhibit at USA Science & Engineering Festival

wo Johns Hopkins ChemBE teams with expertise in nanotechnology, T microfluidics, surface science, and computer simulation participated in an ambitious science event on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and in sur- rounding areas in October: the inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo. The free two-day expo featured more than 1,500 hands-on science activities and more than 75 shows on four stages. The family-friendly event was set up to encour- age young people to become more interest- ed in science, technology, engineering, and math. To accomplish this, organizers pre- sented “compelling, exciting, educational, and entertaining” exhibits and activities. An estimated 500,000 people attended the two-day event. Johns Hopkins University Professors German Drazer and Joelle Frechette and students educated children about engineering at the USA and the Department of Chemical and Science & Engineering Festival on the National Mall using computer simulations and demonstrations with the Biomolecular Engineering turned out big world’s largest nanofluidic device. to educate visitors. Two teams from Johns Hopkins ChemBE, including Professor The Institute for NanoBioTechnology showing them scaling concepts for separa- Denis Wirtz, Assistant Professor Joelle (INBT) brought more than a dozen tion mechanisms in microfluidic devices. Frechette, and Assistant Professor German volunteers. They were so enthusiastic to learn.” Drazer, among others, had booths at the “It was a great experience,” says Wirtz, associate director of INBT, exhibition. Ten students from the Frechette Christian Pick, a PhD candidate, who is assisted with the institute’s demonstrations. and Drazer labs participated in the event. working with Frechette and Drazer. “It was “This gives students an opportunity to interesting to see how the children could explain their research in an accessible way. pick up the concepts so quickly. We were These outreach activities are a requirement

1010 jhu.edu/chembejhu.edu/chembe of their training program grants, but this Alum Jerry Lee, a Leader at skill will also help them in their future the National Cancer Institute Staff Transition careers when explaining their work to other In August, Lindsay Spivey left the funding sources,” he says. The ChemBE Jerry S. H. Lee ’01 (BME), ’06 PhD was booths included: named deputy director for the National Department of Chemical and Bimolecular • Legos Can Show What Happens on Cancer Institute’s Center for Strategic Engineering after five years of service the Nanoscale — In this exhibit presented Scientific Initiatives (CSSI). In this role, in order to remain home with her two by the Drazer and Frechette labs, visitors Lee provides scientific children. Lindsay was an integral member saw how a popular children’s toy can be expertise and leadership of the department, serving as the senior used to conduct experiments concerning to the planning, coordi- academic coordinator and assisting every the behavior of particles, cells, and mole- nation, development, graduate and undergraduate in ChemBE. cules in environments too small to see with and deployment of While at Hopkins, her responsibilities the naked eye. CSSI’s advanced cancer included assisting with ABET accreditation, • Self-Assembly Is Nanomagic — working with the visiting committee, and Volunteers from the INBT helped visitors technology–based devel- helping organize the department’s Senior see how engineers use a technique called opment initiatives. Picnic and graduation. self-assembly at the nano- and microscale. The goal: accelerate the creation and use Working with everyday objects and materi- of foundational standards, transdisciplinary “The thing I miss the most is working als, visitors learned how this technique may team science principles, and novel tools to with the students. They always kept things be used to address human health and envi- bring a new generation of molecularly based interesting, and it was very gratifying to ronmental problems. diagnostics and therapeutics to cancer know I could help them. It was a great Other Hopkins contributions came research and, ultimately, to patients. five years, and I will always have wonderful from Neuroscience, Biophysics, Computer Lee also serves as acting director for the memories of JHU and ChemBE,” Science, and Physics and Astronomy. Office of Physical Sciences–Oncology (OPSO). Spivey says. The OPSO is responsible for initiatives at the The faculty, staff, and students of interface of physical and life sciences includ- ChemBE wish her great success in her ing the National Cancer Institute’s Physical new endeavors. Sciences–Oncology program. His past experiences at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) include serving as a program manager for the NCI’s Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies program and the NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer program, where he was director of fellowships to support multidisciplinary train- ing in cancer nanotechnology. Lee’s extensive research experience in the Wirtz lab included using engineering- “This gives students an based approaches to examine mechanisms of age-related diseases and cancer progres- opportunity to explain their sion focused on combining , Lindsay Spivey research in an accessible molecular biology, and engineering to under- stand various cellular reactions to external way. This skill will also stimuli. Lee currently serves as an adjunct help them in their future assistant professor in the ChemBE careers when explaining Department. their work to other funding sources” — !"#$%&$'()*$!+,)*-.)!'(.$.'&/

THETHE DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT OF OF CHEMICAL CHEMICAL AND AND BIOMOLECULAR BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEE ENGINEERINGRING 1111 ChemBE Lab Transformed Into ESPN “NFL Draft Lab”

ast February, in the midst of Baltimore’s record-breaking, L back-to-back blizzards, ESPN visited the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and transformed the Senior Lab for a location shoot about the NFL draft. ESPN’s SportsCenter produced a six-part series, Mel and Todd’s NFL Draft Lab , in which Mel Kiper Jr., NFL draft expert analyst, and Todd McShay, director of college football scouting for ESPN Scouts Inc., broke down by position the players they thought had the “Biggest Upside,” are the “Big- gest Risk” or are “Under the Radar.” With the help of graduate students Kate Laflin and Elad Firnberg, the production crew of 20-plus transformed the lab into a Hollywood set. Lighting was the key to turning everyday lab equipment into ambiguous objects in the “football lab.” Within 36 hours, three truckloads of lighting, staging and props were moved in and out of Baltimore. After scouting locations at Hopkins, ESPN was drawn to Graduate student Kate Laflin the ChemBE lab because of the distillation column and the and ESPN SportsCenter hosts scope of equipment in the senior lab. Go online to see how Mel Kiper, Jr and Todd McShay the senior lab was transformed into the NFL Draft Lab at pose in front of the undergrad espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4925997. lab’s distillation column.

Mark your calendars for April 29 – May 1. Join us on the Homewood campus for a very special weekend of memories, laughter, activities, faculty talks, great food and, thank goodness, name tags! And be sure to stop by on Friday afternoon to see posters of students’ senior design projects. For more information, visit http://alumni.jhu.edu/reunionshomecoming .

PRESORT STD. U.S. POSTAGE PAID BALTIMORE MD WHITING SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING PERMIT # 1235 DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL AND BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING 221 MARYLAND HALL 3400 NORTH CHARLES STREET BALTIMORE MD 21218

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