• Bio-nanosensors
• Biologically inspired materials
• Polymer colloids
• Genomic signal processing
• Bioinformatics
• Microfluidics
• Biomedical imaging
• Microarray analysis

Key Facilities and Centers

Biomedical Micro/Nanoscale Devices Facility - The laboratory, under the direction of Dr. Mike McShane (mcshane@bme.tamu.edu ), focuses on the modeling, design, fabrication, and testing of small-scale analytical devices, particularly fluorescence-based biosensors. They produce and test sensor systems using microscale and nanoscale fabrication approaches of self-assembly and photolithography, as well as develop strategies for deploying these in vitro and in vivo. Examples of current technologies include nanoparticles to monitor intracelluar oxygen concentrations, fiber optic sensors for tracking neurochemical dynamics, and microparticles and microcapsules for “smart tattoo” implants.

Optical Biosensing Laboratory (OBSL) - The primary research interests of the OBSL, under the direction of Dr. Gerard L. Coté, (gcote@tamu.edu) include the use of optics and fiber optics for medical diagnostics and biosensing. Macro-scale to nano-scale biomedical sensors are developed. Some of the research applications include development of innovative, noninvasive and minimally invasive ways to test blood sugar levels in diabetes; to detect other body chemicals such as beta amyloid for Alzheimer’s disease; to detect analytes in cell culture and within cells; and to diagnose cancer. The research within the laboratory is multidisciplinary and involves several investigators from across the world including medical doctors, the life science faculty, faculty from other engineering disciplines, national laboratory staff, and industry personnel.

Nanomaterials and Biophotonics Laboratory - The laboratory, under the direction of Dr. Ken Meissner (kmeissner@tamu.edu ), focuses on both the design and synthesis of nanostructured materials as well as novel optical techniques for biomedical imaging and sensing. Wet chemistry techniques are utilized to produce colloidal nanoparticles for use in spectral regions ranging from the visible to the microwave. Examples of current research programs include nanoparticles for cellular/tissue imaging, nanoparticles for analyte sensing using time domain spectroscopy, and development of molecular imaging techniques using thermoacoustic tomography.

Genomic Signal Processing Laboratory (GSPL) - The GSPL currently houses 20 networked Dell workstations, 8 Sun Ultra workstations and a large number of PCs. Owing to the tight collaboration with the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGEN), the highly computationally complex algorithms developed by the GSPL can be run in a distributed (parallel) fashion on the 512-node Beowulf cluster at TGEN. The GSPL has access to the cDNA microarray data provided by the existing state-of-the-art microarray technology available at the Cancer Genomics Laboratory, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Center in Houston. The extensive resources of the interdisciplinary Genomics and Bioinformatics Center at Texas A&M University are also available to the GSPL.

Magnetic Resonance Systems Laboratory (MRSL) - The MRSL develops instrumentation and techniques to improve magnetic resonance imaging and to train students in MRI, RF, applied electromagnetics, and image and signal processing. The MRSL conducts research in instrumentation and methodology for magnetic resonance imaging.

Key People

Gerard L. Cote - Charles H. & Bettye Barclay Professor and Department Head of Biomedical Engineering, 979-845-4196, gcote@tamu.edu

Edward Doughtery - Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, 979-862-8154, edward@ece.tamu.edu

Steven Wright - Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, 979-845-9913, wright@ece.tamu.edu

Kenith Meissner - Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, 979-458-0180, kmeissner@tamu.edu

Jun Zou - Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, 979-862-1460, junzou@ece.tamu.edu

• Micromechanics of active materials
• Nanocomposites
• Microscale heat transfer
• Shape memory alloys
• Nano-manufacturing
• Colloids and colloidal self assembly

Key Facilities and Centers

Texas Institute for Intelligent Bio - Nano Materials and Structures for Aerospace Vehicles (TiiMS) consists of some of the top researchers in the world – including a Nobel Laureate and several members of the National Academies – in biotechnology, nanotechnology, biomaterials and aerospace engineering to develop the next generation of bio-nano materials and structures for aerospace vehicles. Research includes the development and application of multiscale simulation methods for metals, alloys, polymers, biopolymers, dendrimers, and composites transport at nanoscale mass and momentum.

Materials Characterization Facility - The Materials Characterization Facility (MCF) at Texas A&M is a multiuser facility designed to support the research efforts of the materials science and engineering community. The facility is an integral part of the Center for Integrated Microchemical Systems(CIMS). MCF houses the fabrication and characterization instrumentation essential for the development, understanding and study of new materials and devices. Microscopy and Imaging Center (MIC)- The mission of the MIC is to provide current and emerging technologies for teaching and research involving microscopy and imaging in Life and Physical Sciences on the Texas A&M campus and beyond, training and support services for microscopy, sample preparation, in situ elemental/molecular analyses, as well as digital image analysis and processing. The MIC promotes cutting edge research in basic and applied sciences through research and development activities and quality training and education through individual training and short courses.

Key People

Dimitris C. Lagoudas - John and Bea Slattery Chair of Aerospace Engineering and Director of the Texas Institute for Intelligent Bio-Nan Materials and Structures for Aerospace Vehicles, 979-845-1604, d-lagoudas@tamu.edu

Andreas Holzenburg – Professor in the Biology Department and Director of the Materials Characterization Facility and the Microscopy and Imaging Center, 979-845-1164, holzen@mic.tamu.edu

Ibrahim Karaman – Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department, 979-862-3923, ikaraman@mengr.tamu.edu

• Atomic level simulations
• Computational materials science
• Process modeling for nanostructured materials
• Nanoscale energy, mass and momentum transport
• Computational biology (protein folding, protein/ligand binding, etc.)

Key Facilities and Centers

Parasol Laboratory - Motion planning, as its name suggests, plans a path (motion) for a movable object. Even though it originated in, and has mainly been applied to, robotics problems, motion planning as a concept is abstract enough to be applied to any motion related application, ranging from robotics to animation, and most recently to computational biology, chemistry and neuroscience. The Parasol Laboratory is investigating applications of probabilistic roadmap (PRM) motion planning methods to protein folding, ligand binding (i.e., drug docking, which arises in drug design), RNA folding, and neuroscience.

TAMU Supercomputing Facility - The Texas A&M Supercomputing Facility provides advanced High Performance Computing resources and support to Texas A&M faculty and students engaged in all aspects of large-scale computation and advances the expertise and use of high-end computation.

Key People

Nancy Amato - Professor in the Computer Science Department and Co-Director of the Parasol Laboratory, 979-862-2275, amato@cs.tamu.edu

Perla B. Balbuena - Professor in the Artie McFerrin Chemical Engineering Department, 979-845-3375, balbuena@tamu.edu

Tahir Cagin - Professor in the Artie McFerrin Chemical Engineering Department, 979-862-1449, cagin@che.tamu.edu

Laszlo Kish- Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering, 979-847-9071, Laszlo.kish@ece.tamu.edu

Valerie Taylor – Royce E. Wisenbaker Professorship I and Department Head of the Computer Science Department, 979-845-5820, taylor@cs.tamu.edu

• Nano electro optics
• Micro electromechanical systems
• Photonic signal processing
• Optical filters
• Microwave photonics
• Bio-nano machining
• Nanosensors
• Bio-nano hybrid devices
• Microfluidic devices
• Molecular diagnostics platforms

Key Facilities and Centers

Solid state, Photonics and Nano-engineering Laboratory - This micro- and nano-fabrication facility addresses the fabrication needs for solid state electronics, biomedical and photonic applications. This facility includes over 4000 square feet of classrooms and 100 square feet of cleanroom space. The equipment includes a mask aligner with sub-micron resolution for 3” wafers, multiple sputtering systems, a dual e-gun deposition system, a thermal evaporator, furnaces, wet processing, a curve tracer, a wire bonder, wafer polishing, dicing, ellipsometers, and related thin-film metrology equipment. Equipment that will be brought online in the near future includes reactive ion etching systems and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition systems.

Key People

Christi K. Madsen - Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and Director of the Institute for Solid State Electronics, 979-845-6259, cmadsen@ece.tamu.edu

Jorge Seminario - Professor holding a joint appointment in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, 979-845-3532, seminario@tamu.edu

Haiyan Wang - Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, 979-845-5082, wangh@ece.tamu.edu

Debjyoti Bannerjee - Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department, 979-845-4500, dbanerjee@tamu.edu

Jun Kameoka - Assistant Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, 979-845-7564, kameoka@ece.tamu.edu