The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering welcomes three new Assistant Professors in Fall 2009: Chelsea Monty, Gang Cheng, and Nic Leipzig.

• Chelsea Monty will join our faculty when she completes her Ph.D. this summer at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research involves developing a new class of sensors that use biological mimics in order to detect a wide range of toxicological modes.


• Gang Cheng will join our faculty when he completes his Ph.D. this summer at University of Washington. His research interests include interaction mechanisms between biomaterials and microorganisms at the molecular level, designing novel materials with both non-fouling and antimicrobial properties, and developing drug delivery platforms for targeted protein/siRNA/DNA delivery.


• Dr. Nic Leipzig received his Ph.D. at Rice University in 2006 for his work on growth factor effects on single chondrocyte biomechanics and gene expression. Dr. Leipzig comes to us from University of Toronto where he conducted postdoctoral work on hydrogel systems for control of cell microenvironments to guide the differentiation of adult stem cells. His research interests include novel approaches for functional tissue engineering of the central nervous system and methodologies for tissue engineering formulated from stem cell biology, biomaterials, and mechanotransduction.

Assistant Professor Nic Leipzig is named as the Iredell Chaired Professor of Chemical Engineering.

The department is pleased to announce Professor Steven Chuang received a $765,000 grant from the Department of Energy for work on technologies to capture carbon dioxide gases produced in coal-fired power plant. Professor Chuan also received a grant of $2 million from FirstEnergy to create the First energy Advanced Energy Research Center to support development of carbon capture and coal-based fuel cell technologies.