Parallel Sessions – 12:30 – 2:00 PM

NanoMaterials

Dr. Qun “Treen” Huo (UCF) – Dr. Huo is a Professor at the University of Central Florida with joint appointments in the NanoScience Technology Center, the Department of Chemistry Department of Mechanics, Materials and Aerospace Engineering, and the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. She is the president of Nano Discovery Inc. and Her research focus is on the development and use of gold nanoparticles for biomedical and bioanalytical applications. Treen received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, in 1999. She received her Masters of Science in Chemistry at the Sun Yat-sen University in the P.R. China and her Bachelors of Science in Polymer Science, from the University of Science and Technology, also in the P.R. China. She has published over 77 peer-reviewed journal articles, holds 7 patents, and has reviewed and contributed to 8 book chapters. Her research has been funded by NSF, The Florida Department of Health, the UCF. She was awarded the NSF CAREER award in 2003, for her work on gold nanoparticles with single surface functional groups: Synthesis and Study. Additionally, she was awarded the NSF NIRT award in 2005 for her work on total chemical synthesis, property and modeling studies of nanoparticle/polymer hybrid materials.
NanoScience Technology Center

NanoChemistry

Dr. Shyam Mohaptra (USF) – Shyam (Sam) S. Mohapatra, PhD, MBA has had a distinguished career in academia in research, teaching, and service at the University of South Florida for that last 26 years. Having completed post-doctoral training in Germany, Canada, and Italy, he settled at USF in 1996 in the College of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine. Dr. Mohapatra’s research has been extramurally funded by NIH, NSF, Veteran Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense, and the Florida Department of Health. He has published over 243 papers and holds over 40 U.S. and foreign patents. He is recognized for his many inventions in the field of nanoscale biomedical diagnostics and therapeutics in cancers, asthma, viral infections, and traumatic brain injury. In cancers, his inventions and co-inventions have led to several technology platforms and products for innovative anti-cancer drug discovery, drug development, and personalized cancer treatment. His research has spawned inventions that have spun-out companies. Dr. Mohapatra serving as co-founder of Transgenex Nanobiotech, Inc., a USF spin-out company that focuses on commercializing nanoscale innovations and Agile Diagnostics, Inc. that focuses on COVID-19 solutions. He is a Charter Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI); a fellow of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI); American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineers (AIMBE); and American Association of Advancement of Science (AAAS); and is one of the 2014 inaugural inductees of the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame. Since 2014, he has served as Associate Dean of Graduate Programs at the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy and established a highly innovative Master of Science program in Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology with additional concentrations in Drug Discovery and Development and Biomedical Engineering and currently serves as the Faculty Advisor for the student organization, NANO (New Advances in Nanotechnology Organization) since 2017. He cofounded a non-profit organization, Florida Association for Nanobiotechnology (>500 members), which encompasses all academic and industry institutions in the State of Florida engaged in research and education of nanobiotechnology. He currently serves as the President of this organization.

Parallel Sessions – 2:15 – 3:45 PM

NanoElectronics

Dr. Philip Feng (UF) – Philip Feng is a Professor in ECE at University of Florida.  His group’s research is primarily focused on emerging semiconductor devices and integrated micro/nanosystems, especially those in advanced semiconductors, 2D materials and heterostructures, as well as their integration with mainstream technologies.  He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from California Institute of Technology (Caltech).  He is an alumnus of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) U.S. Frontier of Engineering (USFOE) program and a recipient of the NAE Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering Award.  His recent awards include the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the NSF CAREER Award, several Best Paper Awards (with his students) at IEEE and other international conferences, and other research, teaching, and mentoring awards.  He has mentored and graduated 12 Ph.D. students and 8 M.S. students with thesis on research.  He has served as a chair for the IEEE MEMS 2021 conference.  He is also a co-organizer and technical program chair for the SiC Materials & Devices Workshop series.
Philip Feng Research Group

NanoMedicine

Dr. Steven Lenhert (FSU) – Steven Lenhert is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Science at Florida State University (FSU), where he teaches biology and nanotechnology. He received a B.S. degree in biochemistry from Messiah College in Grantham, PA (2000) and a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Muenster in Germany (2004). He was a scientist and group leader at the Institute for Nanotechnology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) before joining FSU in 2010. His research is interdisciplinary and involves the patterning of lipids on surfaces with applications in bionanotechnology including drug discovery and biosensing. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed publications, obtained several patents, and his work has been supported by several agencies including the National Institutes of Health.

Parallel Sessions – 4:00 – 5:30 PM

NanoMechanics

Dr Henry Chu (UF) – Dr. Henry Chu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at University of Florida (UF).  He obtained a M.Phil. in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Hong Kong (HKU) in 2012 under the supervision of Professors Chiu-On Ng and Kwok-Wing Chow.  He earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University in 2017 under the supervision of Professor Roseanna Zia.  Following his Ph.D., he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Chemical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, working with Professors Aditya Khair, Robert Tilton, and Stephen Garoff.  In 2021, he joined UF.  The theme of his research is heterogeneous soft matter transport and design, covering topics such as complex fluid dynamics, colloid and interface science, electrokinetics, and rheology.  His research develops predictive multi-scale computational tools and fundamental theory to address emerging National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Grand Challenges for Engineering in these research areas, emphasizing on close collaboration with experimental groups to translate knowledge into applications.  His work has been recognized through several awards, including Outstanding Research Postgraduate Award (HKU), Clyde W. Mason Scholarship (Cornell), Research Travel Grant Award (Cornell), Student Member Travel Award (American Institute of Physics), and Global Faculty Fellowship (UF).

NanoPhysics

Dr. Saiful Khondaker (UCF) – Dr. Saiful Khondaker is a professor of nanoscience, physics, and electrical engineering and an office of research faculty fellow at the University of Central Florida (UCF). He is also the director for PREM Center for Ultrafast Dynamics and Catalysis in Emerging Materials at UCF. Khondaker received his Ph.D. degree in 1999 from the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge. During 2001-2005, he worked at the University of Texas at Austin, first as a postdoctoral fellow (01-03) and then as an assistant director at the center for nano and molecular science and technology (03-05). He joined UCF in 2005 as a tenure track assistant professor, was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2010 and full professor in 2017. He was appointed as an office of research faculty fellow in 2019, where his primary responsibility is mentoring of junior faculty for their grant success. Khondaker’s research is in the fabrication and electron transport investigation of nanoscale electronic devices. He published over 100 peer reviewed journal articles in high impact factor journals with over 9500 citations. He delivered more than 60 invited talks at national and international conferences and prestigious institutions. He is a recipient of prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award (2008), multiple UCF research awards (2010, 2015), UCF teaching award (2017), JSPS invitational fellowship (2016), and US Airforce Summer Fellowship (2016-18).

Parallel Sessions – 12:30- 1:45 PM

NanoAgriculture

Dr. Mathews L. Paret (UF) – Dr. Mathews L. Paret is an Associate Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Florida. For the past many years, he has been conducting research on nanomaterials to manage strains of Xanthomonas, Pseudomonas and Ralstonia infecting tomatoes and cucurbits. Spectral sensing and artificial intelligence are newer areas of his work.; development of diagnostic assays, understanding genetic diversity of strains/isolates, and sustainable management approaches for bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens affecting vegetables and ornamentals in the U.S and internationally are established areas of work. He is a recipient of Hewitt Award and Jane Award of the American Phytopathological Society, Global Fellow of the University of Florida, and Specialist of the Year of the Florida Association of County Agricultural Agents.

NanoFluidics

Dr. Z. Hugh Fan (UF) – Dr. Hugh Fan is a Professor of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Department of Chemistry at the University of Florida (UF), Gainesville, FL.  He is the Director of Interdisciplinary Microsystems Group (IMG), which is a multi-departmental, education and research program led by 10 faculty members.  Prior to joining UF in 2003, Dr. Fan was a Principal Scientist at ACLARA BioSciences Inc. from 2000 to 2003 and a Member of the Technical Staff at Sarnoff Corp from 1995 to 2000. His research interests include microfluidics, BioMEMS, sensors, cancer prognosis, and pathogen detection.  Dr. Fan has authored >110 journal articles with more than 13,200 citations.  In addition, he edited one book and authored >70 book chapters and referred proceeding articles.  Dr. Fan’s research efforts have been recognized by Fraunhofer-Bessel Award from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany), E.T.S. Walton Award from Science Foundation Ireland, and Career Award from National Institutes of Health (USA).  He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).  Dr. Fan serves as an associate editor of Microsystems & Nanoengineering (Nature Publishing Group), and an editorial board member of Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group) and Biosensors (MDPI).

www.mae.ufl.edu/hfan