On April 10, 2024, hundreds of research posters, oral presentations, dance performances, films, interactive games, and much more were hosted in the University Center and other venues around campus, all presented by UMBC’s undergraduate students. 

Congratulations to all CBEE students who participated in the event!

Alvin Bett | Influence of Solution PH On PFAS Accumulation in a Novel Equilibrium Passive Sampler | Lee Blaney | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

An Dang | Phosphate Recovery By Donnan Dialysis: Impact of Operating Parameters in a Batch-Recycle Reactor | Lee Blaney | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Casey Douglas | Phenotypic Characterization of an Aspergillus Nidulans ∆mpkA∆hogA Strain | Mark R. Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Evalynn Ellison | A Synthetic Data Generator to Accelerate Machine Learning Algorithm Development | Brandon DeKosky | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Elias Gilotte | Online ATP Monitoring in Cell-Free Protein Synthesis | Govind Rao | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Garrett Hill | Phenotypic Characterization of Aspergillus Nidulans Protein Kinase PrkA | Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Raey Hunde | Advancing In Vitro Tissue Models: The Development of an Innovative High Throughput Model of the Colon | Erin Lavik | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Terra Miley | Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Magnesium Sensor to be Used in an Industrial Cell-Free Bioreactor | Govind Rao | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Meredith Morse | Characterizing the Aspergillus Nidulans Kinase Deletion Library For Septation in Response to Cell Wall Stress | Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Chiad Onyeje | Verification of Hemostatic Nanocapsules Through Rotational Thromboelastometry Analysis | Erin Lavik | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Tatiana Perez | Phenotypic Characterization of the Aspergillus Nidulans Double-deletion Mutant ΔmpkAΔnrc2 \ Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Matthew Quintanilla | High Throughput Screens to Discover Uncharacterized Cell Wall Signaling Kinases in Aspergillus Nidulans | Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Andrea Sequeira | Characterization of ΔmpkAΔsnf1 Double Deletion Strain in Aspergillus Nidulans | Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

A big congratulations to Vikash Kumar, chemical and biochemical engineering Ph.D., who emerged victorious at the 2023 BIOT Tank competition, organized by ACS BIOT (Division of Biochemical Technology of the American Chemical Society) at the 2023 ACS conference in San Francisco, CA. 

BIOT Tank is ACS BIOT’s version of “Shark Tank”, where cutting edge start-ups in the fields of bioprocessing compete for the finale with their product and their business plan. There were more than twenty submissions for the 2023 competition, and four were selected to give their final pitch during ACS Fall 2023 in San Francisco. Unlike the other “Shark Tank”, ACS BIOT has two awards instead of investors investing, a judge’s choice award and an audience choice award. It provides a great platform for Vikash Kumar and team to reach a wider and like-minded audience which is an investment of its own kind. We won the audience choice awards. We were the only student team at the competition. The other teams giving their pitch, were established start-ups with millions in funding and an experienced team.

Kumar's company, Breathable Bioprocessing, showcased their groundbreaking solution: a breathable flask paired with a non-invasive sensor system designed for shake flask, t-flask, and G-Rex applications. His innovative solutions in bioprocessing captured the attention of both industry experts and peers, highlighting his commitment to advancing the field. 

Watch Vikash’s video here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/vikashk-as4711_bio-works-x-breathable-bioprocessing-at-acs-biot-activity-7097479059839811584-0t17/

Abstract:

Small-scale bioreactors like shake flasks, t-flasks, and G-rex are extensively used in upstream bioprocessing at academic labs and biopharma companies. However, their inability to support process monitoring due to design constraints and sterile requirements has made them function as black boxes during cell culture, leading to inefficiencies and inconsistent product quality.

To address these issues, a novel breathable membrane-based technology has been developed. This breakthrough allows for non-invasive monitoring of critical process parameters, such as dissolved oxygen and dissolved carbon dioxide, from the external environment of the vessels. For shake flasks, a breathable shake flask has been introduced, enabling measurements of dissolved O2 and CO2 through externally attached sensors. As for T-flasks and G-Rex, a sensor manifold placed at the bottom of the flask facilitates non-invasive monitoring of O2 and CO2 through gas diffusion processes without compromising the integrity of the ongoing processes.

This technological breakthrough promises to revolutionize bioprocessing by providing vital process knowledge and control. As a recent startup with three employees, the company is in early discussions with potential customers and collaborators to expand the technology's implementation globally. This innovation is expected to significantly improve the efficiency and reliability of bioprocessing studies, leading to better therapeutic product outcomes.

Excerpt from:

Machine Learning for Bioprocess Sensor Innovation

By Gareth John Macdonald - January 31, 2024

Machine learning (ML) could allow drug firms to create predictive process models that optimize development, production, and quality control. But, before embracing ML on the factory floor, manufacturers will need data to “train” the computer algorithms that drive the approach. And this means having process sensors sophisticated enough to track multiple parameters in real-time in highly complex cell cultures according to an industry expert.

Machine learning is a specialized form of artificial intelligence in which computer programs learn to solve tasks or understand the dynamics of complex systems with minimal or no direction. The process is iterative, and the solutions improve over time as more data is introduced.

This need for training data is driving innovation in process sensors, says Govind Rao, PhD, who is director of the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

“At the end of the day, AI/ML tools will allow for process monitoring to be simplified once data are generated at scale to relate process conditions to critical quality attributes. The need to run QC tests on quarantined bulk drug substance will be greatly reduced,” he explains. “However, to get there will require high-density process monitoring to allow ML/AI algorithms to relate process conditions to off-line measurements such as glycosylation, aggregation, etc.”

Read full article

National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences highlight Professor Upal Ghosh’s work cleaning contaminated waterways

By: Catherine Meyers | Published: Feb 23, 2024 | UMBC NEWS

The positive environmental and health impacts of work led by Upal Ghosh, professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering at UMBC, was recently highlighted by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The agency showcased a low-cost technology that Ghosh and his colleagues developed to clean waterways contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a group of likely carcinogenic chemicals that were used in insulation, coolants, and electrical equipment for decades before being banned in the U.S. in 1979. 

The chemicals are stable and persist in the environment, often accumulating in fish that live in contaminated waterways and posing a risk to humans who consume those fish. NIEHS funded Ghosh’s research into using activated carbon pellets to bind the chemicals in place at the bottom of the waterways. This prevents the PCBs from circulating through the aquatic food chain. In projects carried out in contaminated lakes, rivers, and harbors in Delaware, Maryland, and elsewhere, Ghosh’s team demonstrated that the technique could significantly reduce the concentration of PCBs in the water and in aquatic lifeforms. Importantly, the technique is also significantly cheaper than standard clean-up approaches, such as dredging and disposing of contaminated sediment. 

In related work performed with Kevin Sowers, from the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, Ghosh’s team also developed a way to combine the activated carbon with microbes that break down PCBs, reducing their toxicity.

With NIEHS support, Ghosh has co-founded two companies—Sediment Solutions and RemBac—to commercialize the technology and deploy it at full-scale to clean up contaminated sites across the country, such as at Mirror Lake in Delaware.

“The technology brings together innovations in material science and biology,” says Ghosh. It’s an honor, he says, that the NIEHS, the leading agency in the country that funds research on public health and the environment, recognized “the real impact our research is having on improving public health.”

Celebrating our CBEE students at the GEARS (Graduate Experience, Achievements & Research Symposium) 2024. Sahar Souizi, Environmental Engineering PhD student in Dr. Blaney’s Lab, clinched the runner-up title, and Revati Kadolkar, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering PhD, under Dr. Frey & CAST, seized the People's Choice Award. 

Congratulations Sahar and Revati, for your outstanding achievements!

GEARS provides a platform for students to showcase their creative achievements, present research accomplishments, and share their experiences with peers. GEARS aims to provide a friendly atmosphere to promote collaboration, improve communication skills, and celebrate the hard work of UMBC graduate students.

Hundreds of East Coast chemical engineering students to gather at UMBC for regional conference

 By: Catherine Meyers | Published: Mar 29, 2024 | UMBC NEWS

Over the weekend of April 6 – 7, the UMBC student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) will host the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference on campus. The event will feature workshops, research presentations, and a career fair with companies such as AstraZeneca and Astek Diagnostics and schools including Johns Hopkins University, Rutgers University, the University of Delaware, and Lehigh University. It will also feature the conferences’ two signature competitive events: Chemical Engineering Jeopardy and ChemE Car—a competition to build and operate a car powered and stopped by chemical reactions.

Organizers expect more than 350 attendees from more than 30 universities across the region. UMBC students are encouraged to register to attend, even if they aren’t chemical engineering majors. “As the premier student chemical engineering conference in the region, this event will offer great opportunities for networking, presenting research, landing internships and jobs, and general professional development,” says Terra Miley ’25, chemical engineering, who is serving as the communications chair for the student organizing committee.

Photo credit: The UMBC campus will host hundreds of chemical engineering students in early April for a regional meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. (Marlayna Demond ’11/UMBC)

Evalynn Ellison, ‘25 chemical engineering, secured the title of top junior presenter in the engineering, physics, and mathematics category for presenting the poster based on her summer research project titled, "In-Frame Cloning of Chimeric Antigen Receptors to Improve Cancer Therapeutic Discovery" at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) conference held in November 2023.

Poster title: In-Frame Cloning of Chimeric Antigen Receptors to Improve Cancer Therapeutic Discovery 

Authors: Evalynn Ellison (1), Azady Pirhanov (2,3), and Brandon DeKosky (2,3)

¹Department of Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

²Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

³The Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard

Abstract: Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs) are being used to create promising cancer immunotherapies; however, high-throughput CAR discovery remains a challenge due to the many possible proteins that must be screened for activity. In particular, creating very large and diverse CAR gene libraries for effective CAR discovery has been a limitation. This research project focused on developing and optimizing a system to identify productively inserted CAR genes after cloning into expression vectors. To accomplish this, we developed a high-throughput in-frame CAR clone identification strategy based on a fluorescent protein mCherry assay. The changes in fluorescent reporter mCherry expression levels would signal that a potential CAR was expressed in-frame. After cloning test genes, samples were analyzed by flow cytometry to measure the level of fluorescence and percentage of cells expressing fluorescent protein mCherry. We concluded that the designed mCherry-based fluorescent reporter system was sensitive and specific, making it a successful validator of cloned CAR genes. These CAR platforms can be used for cancer therapeutic discovery toward cell-based immunotherapies, such as CAR-Ts. Our new approach to identify CAR candidates will make therapeutic development more streamlined and efficient. 

Photo credit: Evalynn Ellison

CHECK meetings are group sessions for pre-chemical engineering students led by a CBEE faculty member.

These meetings supplement the one-on-one advising session with a COEIT Advisor to receive advising clearance. They are not a replacement for the one on one advising session.

During the CHECK meeting students will :

• connect about important topics regarding course selection and curriculum requirements specific to Chemical Engineering
• gain insider knowledge about the best timing of classes and prerequisites
• discuss updates about electives courses

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