Brief Self Biography – I am a graduate student in the Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering; my academic advisor is Plamen Atanassov and my thesis advisor at Sandia National Laboratories is Darren Branch. I received a B.S. in Animal Physiology and Neuroscience from the University of California at San Diego in 1996, and joined the graduate program in Chemical Engineering in 2005 after completing leveling courses in the department. Between the time I earned my B.S. and joined graduate school, I spent two years in the Peace Corps as a high school science teacher in Ghana, West Africa, and spent five years working as a process technologist in the Microelectronics Development Laboratory at Sandia National Laboratories.
Research Interests Description– At Sandia, our lab is developing highly sensitive surface acoustic wave sensors for low-level pathogen detection. Other projects include acoustic streaming for efficient cell lysis and micropatterning of proteins on sensor surfaces. I am particularly interested in the interface between devices and relevant biological molecules such as proteins, antibodies, etc., where there is a significant opportunity to improve the specificity and sensitivity of biomimetic sensing systems.
A diagram of a Shear-Horizontal Surface Acoustic Wave (SH-SAW) device
used for gravimetric detection of biological samples in fluids.