Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

Professor emeritus C. Judson King honored with named Endowed Professorship

March 22, 2022
Marge d'Wylde | College of Chemistry

Judson King

The American University of Armenia (AUA) has announced two Endowed Named Professorships reflecting the University’s commitment to excellence in research for the benefit of society. The Endowed Named Professorship Program seeks to attract world-class scholars to advance disciplinary and transdisciplinary research at the University. The inaugural...

In memoriam: Shun Chong Fung

March 24, 2022
By Thomas F. Degnan Jr., Teh C. Ho, and Stuart L. Soled | Memorial Tributes National Academy of Engineering

Sun Chong FungDr. Shun Chong Fung was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2007 “for the investigation of factors underlying the deactivation and reactivation of catalysts, and for application of the findings in commercial practice.” Photo courtesy of the Fung Family.

SHUN CHONG FUNG (1943–2021), a retired research chemical engineer, passed away in...

3D View Reveals Shadow Effect after Rapid Battery Charging

September 30, 2021
Advanced Light Source press release

Illustration of “shadow effect” observed in a graphite electrode

Figure: The “shadow effect” observed in a graphite electrode after fast (1 hour) intercalation to a state of charge (SOC) of 100%. Lithium plating on the graphite is shown in turquoise and the black region underneath shows where the SOC is less than 30%. Image courtesy Balsara Lab.

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Using light-initiated radical reaction to break the carbon-heteroatom bond

August 26, 2021
Kira Welter | Chemistry World

Man with blue light

Image courtesy of Chemistry World.

A reaction that kicks out a single nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur atom from six-membered rings using only blue light has been developed by US scientists.

The method involves breaking the C–N, C–O or C–S bond in saturated heterocycles and reclosing the ring to create smaller cyclic structures. "This avoids having to...

Building a better chemical factory—out of microbes

August 26, 2021
Leigh Buchanan | MIT Technology Review

Professor of Chemical Engineering Kristala Jones Prather

Professor Kristala L. Jones Prather. Photo courtesy MIT.

Metabolic engineers have a problem: cells are selfish. The scientists want to use microbes to produce chemical compounds for industrial applications. The microbes prefer to concentrate on their own growth.

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They call it a ‘women’s disease.’ Alumna Linda Griffith wants to redefine it.

July 9, 2021
Ilana Panich-Linsman | The New York Times

Linda Griffith

Alumna Linda G. Griffith is a professor of biological and mechanical engineering at M.I.T., and its director of the Center for Gynepathology Research. “I don’t want to make endometriosis a women’s issue,” she said in 2014. “I want to make it an M.I.T. issue.” Photo credit Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times.

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Most labs devoted...

One-of-a-kind course aims to build the bioeconomy workforce

July 7, 2021
Emily Scott | Berkeley Lab

Tiffany Chen, a UC Berkeley chemical engineering student,

Tiffany Chen, a UC Berkeley chemical engineering student, loads a sample into the AMBR 250 device as part of UC Berkeley’s “Advanced Bioprocess Engineering Laboratory” class, which introduces advanced concepts of bioprocessing to chemical engineering students, at Berkeley Lab’s...

Cannabinoids are the next big thing in the pot industry

July 5, 2021
Emma Betuel | Observer.com

marijuana leaf

It’s 2021 and regular THC isn’t going to cut it for the budding weed industry. Neither will CBD. Instead, a host of startups are betting that weed consumers will be clamoring for something that nature alone can’t provide.

In Berkeley, California, the startup Demetrix, is preparing to manufacture “metric tons” of...

Markita Landry receives Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholars award

May 11, 2021
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Markita Landry

Markita Landry, Asst. Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has been named a 2021 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar. This award recognizes faculty within the first five years of their academic careers, who have created an outstanding independent body of scholarship, and are deeply committed to education.

Prof. Landry’s current research focuses on the...

David Schaffer Harnesses 'Directed Evolution' for Gene Therapy

March 18, 2021
Jeannine Mjoseth | The Hertz Foundation

David Schaffer

David Schaffer, Hertz Fellow, gene therapy researcher, and The Hubbard Howe Jr. Distinguished Professor of Biochemical Engineering at UC Berkeley says he “plays Darwin” in his Berkeley lab, using high throughput genetic sequencing technology to test over a billion genetic samples for the desired biological activity.

He mutates promising genes and selects...