ChBE Illinois

We are hiring! Join our team as the new Coordinator of Research Programs for ChBE and Chemistry. Learn more and apply: https://lnkd.in/gHxGs5dK Research Administration • Coordinates the preparation and submission of research grant proposals to various granting agencies. Plan and coordinate financial and scientific reports to campus offices and federal agencies. • Submit scientific journal articles. Assist in tracking and management of manuscripts for editorial responsibilities for scholarly series. • Manage the research resources of the laboratories, including managing all purchase requests, assisting faculty in oversight of research activities, handling all research correspondence, managing all organizational tasks relative to the research programs, overseeing monthly group progress reports, tracking productivity and scheduling of monthly meetings. • Assures compliance for all safety training and laboratory safety audits. Interface with F&S to address all maintenance issues with laboratory infrastructure (air handling, plumbing and electrical). Coordinate service and maintenance of all laboratory equipment with various manufacturers and service organizations. Coordinate specialized equipment training as needed. • Keys, proofs, edits, prints, and copies correspondence, manuscripts, and reports using Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and ChemDraw. Prepare letters of reference and sign documents as directed by faculty. Establishes and maintains confidential records and files for faculty. Maintains faculty’s contacts and CV. Manages printing of theses, postdoctoral re-ports, internal photos, journal articles, and other printing re-quests for faculty. • Maintain and update group websites (publications, personnel, presentations, group news) in conjunction with ATLAS Business Administration • Manages complex portfolio of faculty funds. Analysis of monthly financial statements to determine compliance with budgetary and technical requirements of the university system and granting agencies. Assist with graduate student and postdoctoral associate payroll appointments. • Assists with faculty calendar scheduling and a large volume of complex travel arrangements and itineraries for invited lectures and conferences. Authorized to hold a university credit card for travel reservations. • Coordinates personnel management processes for group members including undergraduate, graduate, visiting students and post docs. For new members, includes aiding with visas, hiring paperwork, and managing programmatic and equipment access. Manages records of group vacation/sick days; submits approvals by proxy. For departing members, includes referral to HR coordinator, updating contact information, obtaining and filing inventory of research materials, and scheduling final meeting with faculty. • Coordinate travel for conferences. Submit reimbursement requests for postdoctoral researchers and students for travel and other research related expenses.

Have a restful fall break! We look forward to finishing the semester off strong!

Researchers at ChBE Illinois have received a grant from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS PRF) to explore ways to efficiently separate carbon dioxide from gas mixtures using polymer-based membranes. Assistant professor Alexa Kuenstler, who is leading the research, said that polymer-based membranes are critical to separation applications, including preventing emissions at point of use or remediating legacy emissions through new technologies such as direct air capture. “A key challenge, however, is maintaining a high selectivity – meaning as much carbon dioxide is removed as possible – while simultaneously keeping permeability high, which controls the throughput of gas you can reasonably clean,” Kuenstler said. The team plans to look at ways to chemically modify membranes to take advantage of solubility differences between gases as a mechanism for selectivity. As laid out in their proposal, they will use functionalized free chains within rubbery networks to create well-defined, semi-interpenetrating networks and test for links between diffusion processes and key solubility parameters. “Our work will interrogate the roles of polymer structure and specific molecular interactions in mediating both selectivity and permeability such that we can synergistically optimize both,” Kuenstler said.

Professor Xiao Su led a recent study published in Nature Communications on a new combination of redox electrodialysis and electrosorption to decontaminate water used for semiconductor manufacturing from mixtures of diverse chemicals known as PFAS. These two technologies are utilized together in a single device to address the problems associated with capturing the complete PFAS size spectrum. “We decided upon redox electrodialysis because the very short-chain PFAS behave a lot like salt ions in water,” Su said. “The challenge was to produce an efficient, effective electrodialysis system to capture the ultra-short-chain PFAS, have it work in tandem with the electrosorption process for the longer-chain PFAS, destroy them with electrochemical oxidation, and make it happen within a single device.”

We are hiring! We are seeking a motivated, highly independent individual to assist with the operation and improvement of the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Unit Operations lab starting in January 2025 and working through August or September 2025. This position will assist with the day-to-day operation of the unit ops laboratory, while also helping lab staff improve existing experiments and develop additional experiments for the new Unit Ops lab. Interested students must have an expected graduation date of – or before – May 2025, and have completed CHBE 422 (Mass Transfer Operations) and CHBE 424 (Chemical Reaction Engineering) or equivalent.   For the Spring 2025 semester, we are seeking someone who can commit to working 10-15 hours per week. Starting in May 2025, it is expected that the working time will increase to 35 hours per week. This may be an ideal position for an individual who is planning to attend graduate school or has a position lined up that will not begin until next Fall. Salary will be determined based on graduation date and/or experience. To apply, send (1) your resume, (2) a cover letter, and (3) an (unofficial) transcript to Jacob Leicht, leicht2@illinois.edu. The deadline to apply is Monday, December 2, 2024 at 4:00pm.   See the full job posting here: https://lnkd.in/gBYk_7Yk

Professors Pedron Haba and Harley recently published a paper in Advanced Therapeutics showing an important role that hyaluronic acid plays in glioblastoma cell growth by utilizing @CancerCenterIL 's tumor engineering and phenotyping lab (TEP). “This study was a continuation of earlier GBM research projects looking at biomaterial-based systems to understand how cancer cells interact with the tumor microenvironment and respond to different therapeutic strategies,” said Pedron Haba, a Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) member. “We wanted to dive deeper into our understanding of the metabolic pathways in the context of the tumor microenvironment that are associated treatment resistance.” This question led Pedron Haba’s team to collaborate with the TEP, which provided critical research assistance to expand the study’s capabilities. “Normally, the TEP’s Seahorse Analyzer is used for 2D cell cultures, but with Sara’s study we were able to optimize the Seahorse for 3D cell cultures to monitor the metabolic pathway changes in the live GBM cells,” said TEP Manager Hui Xu. “We don’t run standard protocols at TEP, because each researcher’s investigation is unique. We want to understand the study and adjust our approaches to maximize their research impact.”

Patricia Simpson in SCS Career Services gets some well-deserved recognition for her role in helping ChBE and Chemistry students secure their career paths and make a successful transition to the workplace "The whole reason we are here is to serve students and graduate students who are informed and thoughtful and who are having an impact on the world" Watch the video about Simpson receiving the Chancellor's Staff Excellence Award: https://lnkd.in/gMqRPj8D

Join us for our Master of Engineering in Chemical Engineering Leadership virtual info session! Tuesday, October 15, 7:00 - 8:00 pm CST. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gWhEXKxW Our application deadlines are coming up! Join our virtual session to get all of your questions answered before you apply! Applications for Spring/Fall 2025 enrollment are open!  Deadline to apply (Spring 2025): November 1, 2024 Deadline to apply (Fall 2025): May 1, 2025

Join us for a graduate admissions virtual info session! Learn how to create a successful application, what the admission process looks like, and why Illinois may be the right fit for you! Session 1: Tuesday, October 1, 12:00 - 1:30 pm CST. Session 2: Thursday, October 10, 3:30 - 5:00 pm CST Session 3: Thursday, October 24, 8:00- 9:30 pm CST Learn more about our fully-funded graduate program at an upcoming virtual information session. Our faculty and students will share tips for crafting your application, review the admission process, and discuss what Illinois has to offer you For more information, and to register, visit: https://lnkd.in/gitTssxi

Chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Huimin Zhao was one of five 2024-2025 cohort members selected for the Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) JumpStart Program. This program, which was established in 2023, is designed to foster productive collaborations across the engineering and biology continuum and stimulate cancer research among accomplished scientists. Zhao is also affiliated with CCIL as a computational engineering and data science researcher in CCIL’s cancer technology and data science program. Zhao is the Steven L. Miller Chair of chemical and biomolecular engineering and holds professor positions in bioengineering, chemistry, biomedical and translational sciences in the Carle Illinois College of Medicine and in the Institute of Genomic Biology. He researches the interface of synthetic biology, machine learning, and laboratory automation. Zhao’s research program focuses on four distinct yet related areas: foundational tool development, drug discovery and development, industrial biotechnology, and mammalian synthetic biology. In addition to his positions at Illinois, Zhao is director of the National Science Foundation’s AI Institute for Molecule Synthesis and Editor in Chief of ACS Synthetic Biology, and he is leading a new NSF-funded biofoundry focusing on integrating synthetic biology, laboratory automation and A.I. to advance protein and cellular engineering.