Research Projects

Microscale Bioseparations Laboratory

Dr. Blanca H. Lapizco Encinas, Chemical Engineering Department, Tennessee Technological University

Research Projects:

•Concentration and separation of proteins employing dielectrophoresis, the main objective of this project is to achieve the separation and concentration of proteins with potential for pharmaceutical applications. This project will be carried out by a Student from the Chemical Engineering program or Environmental Sciences program at Tennessee Tech.

•Electric field effects on cell viability in insulator-based dielectrophoretic systems, this project involves experimental and modelling work to predict the magnitude of the electric fields to which cells are exposed and then asses the % of viable cells under different operating conditions. This work is carried out by Reina E. Sósol at Cinvestav Monterrey.

•Continuous sorting and separation of different species of microorganisms employing inertial focusing , this project studies the effects of cell shape and size on inertial focusing and sorting employing microfluidic devices Victor H. Marín at Cinvestav Monterrey.

•Characterization of dielectric properties of microorganisms with Carbon-Dielectrophoresis, this project employs 3-dimensional electrodes made from Carbon in order to assess dielectric properties of microorganisms by employing AC electric fields. This work is carried out by Héctor Moncada and Victor Pérez at Tecnológico de Monterrey.

1 position open for a PhD student:

Enhancing microbial diversity studies by the use of dielectrophoresis (in collaboration with Dr Laila P. Partida Martínez – Laboratorio de Interacciones Microbianas - CINVESTAV-Irapuato) (Vacancies: 1 Ph.D. Position)

A critical step for studies about microbes and the interactions they have among themselves and with the environment is their culturability. It is considered that only 1% of the microbes inhabiting the Earth have been cultured in the laboratories around the world. This project pursues the isolation, concentration and cultivation of microbes from complex environmental samples by using dielectrophoresis, a powerful technique in microfluidics.

Students interested in this project should send and email to blapizco@tntech.edu and laila.partida@ira.cinvestav.mx