Award
2018 Young Investigator Award Winner—Award from Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Department
Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
What is the impact of your research?
I received a Young Investigator award from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research to develop a nanoscale multimodal transducer — a miniature device that takes advantage of optical and electrical properties at the nanometer level — to monitor and control the biological processes unfolding inside a living cell. If successful, this research will lead to miniaturized tools to resolve the real-time activities inside a living cell for understanding disease mechanisms and improving medical diagnoses and therapies.
What do you like most about the field of electrical and computer engineering?
The field of electrical and computer engineering (ECE) is at the center of information technology by managing the signals and energy related to electrons or/and photons (electromagnetic fields). Compared to other fields, I think ECE is unique in dealing with both the world of hardware design and device development based on physical science and the world of software design and data analysis based on mathematics.
What path did you take to get to this point in your career and research?
During my three years of postdoctoral study at Harvard (2012-2015), I worked in the field of nanoelectronics for biomedical applications in drug testing and disease modeling. During my five-years-long Ph.D. studies at Northwestern (2007-2012), I developed extensive experience in plasmonic nanophotonics for controlling light-matter interactions at nanoscale. Therefore, I have been well prepared to connect the two historically separate fields of nano-bioelectronics and nano-biophotonics for the development of hybrid optical-electrical bio-nano interface. I envision that significant opportunities will be opened by hybrid optical-electrical sensing and actuation of different biological processes at subcellular level.
When you are not researching, what do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I like reading science fiction, swimming, listening to music, and spending time with my family in my spare time.