Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

Atom computing raises $15M and launches first-generation quantum computer

July 22, 2021
Jason Parker | WRAL Tech Wire

Illustration of quantum computer

Atom Computing announced its first-generation 100-atom quantum computer on July 21, 2021. (Image courtesty Atom Computing.)

Quantum computing company Atom Computing, co-founded by Jonathan King (Ph.D. '12, ChemE), will base...

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...

Podcast: Nobel Laureates Frances Arnold and Jennifer Doudna on prizes, pandemics, and Jimmy Page

February 18, 2021
Lisa M. Jarvis | C&EN

Frances Arnold and Jennifer Doudna

The recent Nobel chemistry-prize winners, alumna Frances Arnold and Professor Jennifer Doudna, tell Stereo Chemistry about what comes after that momentous call from Stockholm. Credit: Frances Arnold photo (Caltech); Jennifer Doudna photo (Lauran Morton Photography)

Where do you take your career after you’ve won...

Alumna and Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold tapped by President Biden to be co-chair of the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology

January 19, 2021
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Frances Arnold speaks at announcement ceremony

Professor Arnold speaks on the importance of science during a press conference.

President-elect Joe Biden on Saturday introduced key members of his White House science team, including his nominee for director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

"These are among the brightest,...

Tracing the many paths of vision

December 23, 2020
Christina Bielmeier| Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology

zebra fish eye under fluorescent lighting

A new study reports results on decodeing the molecular diversity of neurons in the zebrafish retina. The resulting catalog documented studying individual cell types in the retina and linking them to a specific structure, function and behavioral...

AIChE student chapter wins Western Region title

November 19, 2020
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

2019-2020 executive board AIChE student chapter

AIChE UC Berkeley Student Chapter leadership pose during their weekly ZOOM meeting to discuss club events. Members include Jeremy Murphy-Ortega, Ashutosh Bhadouria, Julia Glasser, Stephen Chang, Esther Leem, Sancialita Sathiyamoorthy, Andrea Chen, Samantha Yang, Meagan Macavinta, Ariana Dunlap,...