• Professor, Chemical Engineering
  • Chair, TAMU Master of Biotechnology (MBIOT) Program
  • Carolyn S. & Tommie E. Lohman '59 Professor in Engineering Education
Dr. Ugaz

Educational Background

  • Ph.D., Northwestern University – 1999
  • M.S., University of Texas at Austin – 1994
  • B.S., University of Texas at Austin – 1991

Research Interests

    • Transport and flow in microfluidic systems
    • Microscale convectively driven biochemical reactions
    • Microsystems for DNA analysis and medical diagnostics
    • Materials and processes for construction of microfluidic environments
    • Origin of life

Awards & Honors

  • 2019 Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching
  • 2016 Linda Harris Distinguished Teaching Award
  • 2016 TEES Faculty Fellow Award
  • 2015 Charles W. Crawford Distinguished Service Award
  • 2013 AES Electrophoresis Society Distinguished Service Award

Selected Publications

  • Priye, A., Yu, Y., Hassan, Y.A., and Ugaz, V.M. “Synchronized Chaotic Targeting and Acceleration of Surface Chemistry in Prebiotic Hydrothermal Microenvironments.” PNAS, 114 (2017): 1275-1280.
  • Priye, A., Wong, S., Bi, Y., Carpio, M., Chang, J., Coen, M., Cope, D., Harris, J., Johnson, J., Keller, A., Lim, R., Lu, S., Millard, A., Pangelinan, A., Patel, N., Smith, L., Chan, K., and Ugaz, V.M. “Lab-on-a-Drone: Toward Pinpoint Deployment of Smartphone-enabled Nucleic Acid-based Diagnostics for Mobile Health Care.” Analytical Chemistry, 88 (2016): 4651-4660.
  • Contreras-Naranjo, J.C. and Ugaz, V.M. “A Nanometer-scale Resolution Interference-based Probe of Interfacial Phenomena Between Microscopic Objects and Surfaces.” Nature Communications, 4 (2013): doi:10.1038/ncomms2865.
  • Huang, J-H., Jayaraman, A., and Ugaz, V.M. “Enzymatic Sculpting of Nano- and Micro-scale Surface Topographies.” Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 51 (2012): 9619-9623.
  • Shi, N. and Ugaz, V.M. “Tailoring the Nanoporous Architecture of Hydrogels to Exploit Entropic Trapping.” Physical Review Letters, 105 (2010): 108101.