News & EventsDepartment Events
Events
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Apr23
EVENT DETAILSmore info
lessTranslating Early Research Concepts to Human Therapies: Navigating Preclinical Development of Cell and Gene Therapies
Cell and gene therapies (CGT) represent advanced treatments that can address the root cause of diseases at the cellular and genetic level. Many CGTs have delivered stunning efficacy in previously untreatable diseases, ranging from hematologic malignancies to rare monogenic disorders. While the field has grown rapidly in the past decade, CGTs face unique challenges that make product development difficult and expensive compared to other biologics. In nonclinical testing, standard approaches used to evaluate product safety in small molecules, proteins, and medical devices do not always apply for CGTs. In manufacturing, CGTs rely on living cells and heterogeneous precursors, making them more complex to produce with higher development costs and timelines. Here in this talk, I will provide key strategies that therapeutic developers use to navigate these unique challenges in nonclinical testing and manufacturing of CGT products.
Christina Fuentes is a Senior Consultant with Dark Horse Consulting Group. Christina provides strategic and tactical support for cell and gene therapy clients ranging from non-profit organizations, research institutes, start-ups, large pharmas, and investment firms. Christina has also written several papers and regulatory guidance documents on technical and regulatory considerations for viral vector and gene editing based products.
Christina earned her BS in Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University and her PhD in Bioengineering at UC Berkeley. As an undergraduate, Christina worked on bioinspired gold nanorods for photothermal cancer ablation. During her doctoral work, Christina developed adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors encoding a self-inactivating CRISPR/Cas9 system to reduce off-target genome editing. Christina also engineered a thermoresponsive hydrogel for scalable stem cell manufacturing. Christina is a recipient of the NSF GRFP, Siebel Scholars, and GEM Young Alumni Award.
Outside of consulting, Christina enjoys spending time outdoors and trying out new restaurants and bakeries around Chicago.
TIME Wednesday, April 23, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
LOCATION LR4, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Will Chaussee william.chaussee@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE)
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Apr24
EVENT DETAILS
lessThe Chemical and Biological Engineering Department is pleased to present a seminar by Jerrod Henderson from The University of Houston as part of our ChBE Seminar Series.
Jerrod Henderson will present a seminar titled "Using the Photovoice Method in Engineering Education: Visualizing Engineering Identity.”
ABSTRACT
Researchers have shown that students are most likely to leave engineering undergraduate programs during their first two years. Justifiably, several studies have investigated first-year student persistence, which has informed the development of interventions to address challenges. While those interventions have improved freshmen retention in some institutions, less has been published on the impacts of these interventions on the sophomore student experience. In this study, we examined the experiences of sophomore engineering students and explored how these experiences relate to their identities as engineers. We conducted this study using photovoice, a participatory action-based research methodology in which participants submit photographs to describe their experiences and provide recommendations for improving them and resolving their concerns. Four participants submitted three sets of pictures and participated in focus groups. We inductively developed three themes: “on the frame, out of focus, and prefigures.” We gained insight into what interest, competence, and recognition as engineers meant to students. Participants grappled with the tension between their personal, social, and engineering identities. Photovoice empowered them to author that they could exist beyond the murky middle. This work has the potential to yield solutions that institutional stakeholders can implement, such as creating cultures of well-being, self-reflection, and belonging.
BIO
Dr. Jerrod A. Henderson (“Dr. J”) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Houston.
He began his higher education pursuits at Morehouse College and North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, where he earned dual degrees in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. He completed his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Henderson has dedicated his career to increasing the number of students who are on pathways to pursue STEM careers. He co-founded the St. Elmo Brady STEM Academy, an after-school educational intervention that introduces fourth and fifth-grade students and their families to hands-on STEM experiences. This program has served hundreds of students in Illinois and Texas.
His research group aims to understand student engineering identity trajectories and success mechanisms, using interpretive qualitative and action-based participatory research methods.
He was most recently recognized by INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine as an Inspiring STEM Leader, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (LAS) Outstanding Young Alumni Award, and with a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2023 to advance his work that centers engineering identities of Black men in engineering.
Bagels and coffee will be provided at 9:30am, and the seminar will start at 9:40am. Please plan to arrive on time to grab a bagel and mingle!
*Please note that there will be no Zoom option for seminars this year.
TIME Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
LOCATION LR5, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Olivia Wise olivia.wise@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE)
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Apr30
TIME Wednesday, April 30, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
LOCATION LR4, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Will Chaussee william.chaussee@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE)
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May1
EVENT DETAILS
lessThe Chemical and Biological Engineering Department is pleased to present a seminar by Astrid Müller from the University of Rochester as part of our ChBE Seminar Series.
Astrid Müller will present a seminar titled "Electrocatalysis for Sustainable Chemical Manufacturing and Defluorination of Forever Chemicals.”
ABSTRACT
Electrocatalysis offers a sustainable route to chemical production by replacing fossil fuel–based methods with energy-efficient processes powered by renewable electricity. It also presents a promising solution for remediating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water. Viable electrocatalytic systems must use nonprecious materials, function in aqueous environments, consume minimal energy, and effectively degrade pollutants, goals that require a fundamental understanding of reaction mechanisms and strategic nanocatalyst design.
Our research leverages pulsed laser in liquid synthesis to fabricate nanocatalysts with precisely controlled surface properties, enabling a quantitative understanding of electrocatalytic processes, particularly within the complex electrode microenvironment. We demonstrate that laser-synthesized, earth-abundant mixed-metal nanocatalysts on high-surface-area carbon supports can selectively oxidize toluene to benzyl alcohol with high activity. Additionally, we achieve complete defluorination of diverse PFAS in aqueous electrolytes using laser-made bimetallic nanocatalysts.
The unifying theme of our group is to advance the design and fabrication of nanocatalysts for the electrocatalytic generation of reactive species from water, aimed at sustainable applications. This work is driven by an atomistic understanding of catalyst materials, electrode interfaces, and reaction mechanisms to enable scalable, eco-friendly chemical manufacturing and water treatment technologies.
BIO
Astrid M. Müller is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Rochester since 2018. She completed her undergraduate studies at the Technical University of Munich in Germany, earning the equivalent of a double major at the BS and MS level in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Prof. Müller obtained her PhD in Physical Chemistry (magna cum laude) for work on ultrafast reaction dynamics at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Germany. Her postdoctoral research at UC Berkeley and UC Riverside involved developing a fundamental understanding of laser–matter interactions. As a staff scientist at Caltech, she pioneered the pulsed laser synthesis of earth-abundant water-splitting materials to enable decarbonization technologies. Her independent research centers on gaining a quantitative understanding of electrocatalytic processes and reactive species from water, utilizing pulsed laser techniques to create nanomaterials with controlled surface properties. This work uniquely positions Prof. Müller’s group to understand how nanocatalysts and electrocatalytic mechanisms impact the performance of nanomaterials in sustainable energy, green chemistry, and aqueous PFAS destruction applications.
Bagels and coffee will be provided at 9:30am, and the seminar will start at 9:40am. Please plan to arrive on time to grab a bagel and mingle!
*Please note that there will be no Zoom option for seminars this year.
TIME Thursday, May 1, 2025 at 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
LOCATION LR5, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Olivia Wise olivia.wise@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE)
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May7
TIME Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
LOCATION LR4, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Will Chaussee william.chaussee@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE)
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May8
EVENT DETAILS
lessThe Chemical and Biological Engineering Department is pleased to present a seminar by Michael Charles, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University.
Michael Charles will present a seminar titled "Sustainable Engineering for Equitable Futures: Empowering Indigenous Sovereignty.”
ABSTRACT
Climate change poses threats to all life on our planet but the consequences do not impact all communities equally. With the complexity of the technological, political, and economic systems that humankind has built around ourselves, even our solutions to address climate change redistribute risks disproportionately. In this seminar, we will dive into how sustainable and systems engineering methodologies can assess the trade-offs that must be considered to make “sustainable” decisions. Further, we will explore the role that data analysis and localized information can play in advocating for the empowerment and safety of vulnerable communities, and in particular, Indigenous communities. These themes will be demonstrated through a variety of projects focused on renewable energy transitions, health-centered design, sustainable food systems, and just data and research governance.
BIO
Michael Charles (he/him/his) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, an Affiliate Faculty of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program, and a Faculty Fellow of the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. He received his B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) from Cornell University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in CBE from The Ohio State University. His expertise involves developing computational sustainability frameworks that integrate dynamic ecological models and data-driven storytelling to advocate for underrepresented communities. As a Diné (Navajo) scholar, he’s committed to fostering mutually respectful partnerships with Indigenous communities. His vision is to combine computational methods with community-centered relationships to translate research into action. At Cornell University, the Charles Research Group focuses on nature-responsive design, frameworks for sustainable systems development, and utilizing data to empower communities to navigate complex sustainability challenges. Along with his research, he works with the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change to advocate for Indigenous rights, leadership, and self-determination within UN Climate Negotiations.
Bagels and coffee will be provided at 9:30am, and the seminar will start at 9:40am. Please plan to arrive on time to grab a bagel and mingle!
*Please note that there will be no Zoom option for seminars this year.
TIME Thursday, May 8, 2025 at 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
LOCATION LR5, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Olivia Wise olivia.wise@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE)
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May14
TIME Wednesday, May 14, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
LOCATION LR4, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Will Chaussee william.chaussee@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE)
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May15
EVENT DETAILS
lessThe Chemical and Biological Engineering Department is pleased to present a seminar by Nikhil Nair, Associate Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Tufts University.
Nikhil Nair will present a seminar titled "Understanding and mitigating host-part incompatibilities during microbial engineering.”
ABSTRACT
One of our major goals is to elucidate and highlight the unexpected outcomes that result from modifying living systems and formalize them under the umbrella of “incompatibilities”. For example, when multiple recombinant proteins are co-expressed in bacteria like E. coli, the cellular growth rate reduces, due to the burden of protein expression. However, the same system can be considered an incompatibility between the resources used for protein synthesis and the bacterial host’s intrinsic resource demands for growth. Similarly, when a recombinant enzyme is expressed in a recombinant host, its off-target activity on host metabolites can result in the re-distribution of fluxes through a number of host metabolic pathways. While such activity is frequently filed under promiscuous enzymatic activity, the same can be considered an incompatibility between the enzyme and the host’s metabolic network. We have spent significant effort in systematically exploring the origin of these numerous host-part incompatibilities (where, the added component, like recombinant protein, is referred to as a biological “part”) in efforts to explain previously inexplicable experimental observations. By understanding the origins of incompatibilities, our work has revealed fundamental insights into cellular physiology and enabled the development of more robust and efficient engineered biological systems.
BIO
Nik Nair (naa-year) received his B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) in 2003. While at Cornell, he was a founding member and lead guitarist of the not-so-well-known progressive metal band called “Rubicon”. After graduation in 2003 and a brief stint at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he worked as a manufacturing research scientist in biotechnology purification development, he received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign under the guidance of Prof. Huimin Zhao. He joined Tufts in 2013 after completing a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship in Microbiology and Immunobiology at the Harvard Medical School in Prof. Ann Hochschild’s lab. He was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2020. He is a recipient of the 2016 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. The Nair Synthetic Biology & Systems Bioengineering Lab focuses on two major areas of research – 1) biosynthesis of renewable fuels and chemicals from sustainable feedstocks, and 2) engineering proteins and microbes to improve human health. In his spare time, which is increasingly rare, he likes to play guitar, golf, and video games and watch trashy TV shows like 90 Day Fiancé and Sister Wives. His long-term plans include starting several companies based on lab-developed technologies and eventually resurrecting “Rubicon” once his young sons are old enough to master their instruments (Kiran: guitar; Liam: keyboards)
Bagels and coffee will be provided at 9:30am, and the seminar will start at 9:40am. Please plan to arrive on time to grab a bagel and mingle!
*Please note that there will be no Zoom option for seminars this year.
TIME Thursday, May 15, 2025 at 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
LOCATION LR5, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Olivia Wise olivia.wise@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE)
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May21
EVENT DETAILS
lessTBD
TIME Wednesday, May 21, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
LOCATION LR4, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Will Chaussee william.chaussee@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE)
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May22
EVENT DETAILS
lessThe Chemical and Biological Engineering Department is pleased to present our annual Contextualizing Engineering Seminar by Luke Landherr, COE Distinguished Teaching Professor of Chemical Engineering and Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies at Northeastern University.
Luke Landherr will present a seminar titled "Drawn To STEM: The Integration of Visualization Into Education Through Comics and Animation To Improve Learning."
ABSTRACT
One of the major obstacles to effective learning in STEM is the abstract nature of many core STEM concepts. While traditional approaches include examples of real-world applications, demonstrations, and/or hands-on experimentation, the depth and complexity of these concepts can cause such efforts to be unsuccessful. Further exacerbating the problem, some theoretical concepts do not have obvious visual representations that could make the concepts less abstract and so more comprehensible to students.
The benefits of broadening visual instruction in education are not just restricted to learners with particular inclinations toward visual learning. Studies have shown that combining text with images improves students’ retention of information, and multimedia presentations of concepts allow for better transfer of the gained knowledge towards solving problems. In short, increasing the visual content of STEM instruction promotes students’ conceptual understanding.
Recently, the use of comics and animation as learning tools has grown dramatically, with a broad set of artists, book series, and videos all dedicated to integrating visualization into educational approaches. This seminar will focus on the range of techniques being used; the potential of comics and animation in improving student enthusiasm, confidence, and understanding; the impact of these techniques observed thus far; and the means by which other educators can attempt visualization techniques on their own.
BIO
Dr. Luke Landherr is a COE Distinguished Faculty, teaching professor and the associate chair for undergraduate studies of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University. They conduct engineering education research into novel visual teaching techniques for undergraduate and K-12 STEM education. Their comics to teach complex science and engineering concepts have been adopted by colleges and high schools throughout the U.S., U.K., Belgium, and Denmark, and they helped to write and create the Crash Course: Engineering video series. They are currently a regular contributor to the Chemical Engineering Education journal producing the Drawn To Engineering comic, and have received multiple AIChE and ASEE awards for their work.
*Bagels and coffee will be provided at 9:30am, and the seminar will start at 9:40am.
TIME Thursday, May 22, 2025 at 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
LOCATION LR5, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Olivia Wise olivia.wise@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE)
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May28
TIME Wednesday, May 28, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
LOCATION LR4, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Will Chaussee william.chaussee@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE)
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May29
EVENT DETAILS
lessMore details to come.
TIME Thursday, May 29, 2025 at 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
LOCATION LR5, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Olivia Wise olivia.wise@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE)
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Jun4
TIME Wednesday, June 4, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
LOCATION LR4, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Will Chaussee william.chaussee@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE)
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Jun5
EVENT DETAILS
lessMore details to come.
TIME Thursday, June 5, 2025 at 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
LOCATION LR5, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Olivia Wise olivia.wise@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE)
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Jun15
TIME Sunday, June 15, 2025
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar
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Jun16
EVENT DETAILS
lessMcCormick School of Engineering PhD Hooding and Master's Degree Recognition Ceremony. The most up to date information can be found on our graduation webpage.
TIME Monday, June 16, 2025 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
LOCATION 2705 Ashland Ave
CONTACT Northwestern Engineering Events northwestern-engineering-events@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
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Jun16
EVENT DETAILSmore info
lessMcCormick School of Engineering Undergraduate Convocation. The most up to date information can be found on our graduation webpage.
TIME Monday, June 16, 2025 at 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
LOCATION 2705 Ashland Ave
CONTACT Northwestern Engineering Events northwestern-engineering-events@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science