BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Memento EPFL//
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:EPFL BioE Talks SERIES  "Droplet and Digital Based Microfluidics f
 or Applications in Synthetic Biology"
DTSTART:20240318T121500
DTEND:20240318T131500
DTSTAMP:20261002T033655Z
UID:5ecad1a2a44af86407ce32760ec430875d223ab7e5e43b43ca1ecee2
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Steve Shih\, Departments of Electrical and Computer Engi
 neering and of Biology\, Concordia University\, Montreal (CAN)\nWEEKLY EPF
 L BIOE TALKS SERIES (sandwiches provided)\n\nAbstract:\nSynthetic biology 
 describes the process of engineering a cell for new or improved functional
 ity.  The biggest challenge with synthetic biology is the standardization
  and reproducibility – where much of the work in synthetic biology resea
 rch is not automated.  Droplet and digital microfluidics has emerged to p
 rovide solutions to expedite the ‘design-build-test’ synthetic biology
  workflow – leading to automating multiple aspects of the cycle.  In m
 y talk\, I will discuss the use of droplet-based microfluidic platforms fo
 r three main applications related to (1) designing new constructs to assem
 bling DNA and bringing it into a host organism\, (2) gene editing to rapid
 ly edit mammalian cells and how we can carry out manipulations at the sing
 le cell level with near instant generation of clonal\, isogenic cell lines
  (and comparing to gold-standard techniques)\, and (3) to screen for indus
 trial-relevant enzymes.  These are the new possibilities for applications
  in synthetic biology that are enabled by droplet-type microfluidics.  I
  will also review some of our efforts in creating automation systems and d
 esigns of droplet-based microfluidic devices.\n\nBio:\nSteve Shih complete
 d his Ph.D in Biomedical Engineering specializing in microfluidic (or “l
 ab-on-chip”) technologies at the University of Toronto.  He then spent 
 3 years at UC Berkeley and at the Joint BioEnergy Institute as a postdocto
 ral researcher where he learned pathway engineering and synthetic biology.
   As of 2020\, he is an Associate Professor at Concordia University (Mont
 real\, Canada) in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering an
 d also in the Department of Biology.   His research focuses on developi
 ng microfluidic tools for health\, energy\, and synthetic biology applic
 ations.  Recently\, he has been awarded the Allan Kuchinsky Bio-Automatio
 n Award from Synthetic Biology Automation Society and elected as an Emergi
 ng Investigator from the Royal Society of Chemistry.\n \n\n	Since Jan 202
 4 Steve became the Co-Director of the Center for Applied Synthetic Biology
  at Concordia University\, Montreal\, Canada.\n	2016-current Steve is a Pr
 incipal Investigator (Associate Professor) in the Department of Electrical
  and Computer Engineering with cross appointments in Biology and Chemical 
 Engineering\n	2013-2015 Postdoc\, UC Berkeley and Joint Bioenergy Institut
 e\, Berkeley\, California\, USA\n	2009\, Research Internship at Sandia Nat
 ional Laboratories\, Livermore\, California\, USA\n	2008-2012 PhD student\
 , University of Toronto\, Toronto\, Ontario\, Canada\n	2005-2008 MSc Stude
 nt\, University of Ottawa\, Ottawa\, Ontario\, Canada\n	2000-2004 BASc stu
 dent in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto\,
  Toronto\, Ontario\, Canada\n\n\n\n\n\nZoom link (with one-time registrati
 on for the whole series) for attending remotely: https://go.epfl.ch/EPFLBi
 oETalks\n\n\nInstructions for 1st-year Ph.D. students who are under EDBB
 ’s mandatory seminar attendance rule:\nIN CASE you cannot attend in-pers
 on in the room\, please make sure to\n\n\n	send D. Reinhard a note well ah
 ead of time (ideally before seminar day)\, informing that you plan to atte
 nd the talk online\, and\, during seminar:\n	be signed in on Zoom with a r
 ecognizable user name (not any alias making it difficult or impossible to 
 identify you).\n\nStudents attending the seminar in-person should collect 
 a confirmation signature after the talk - please print your own signature 
 sheet beforehand (71 kB pdf available for download here). IMPORTANTLY: han
 g on to this sheet as no signature record is being kept by anyone else!
LOCATION:SV 1717 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==SV%201717 https://go.epfl.ch/
 EPFLBioETalks
STATUS:CONFIRMED
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR