March 2013

Dr. Brian J. Landi promoted to Associate Professor

Dr. Landi was recently granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Landi graduated with a PhD in Microsystems Engineering from RIT in 2006 and has been affiliated with the NanoPower Research Labs as a Group Leader for Carbon Nanotubes and Advanced Batteries. He is core graduate faculty for the Microsystems Engineering PhD program and extended graduate faculty for the Golisano Institute for Sustainability. Dr. Landi's research activities focus on enhancing the performance of energy conversion, transmission, and storage devices through the use of nano materials.

Dr. Blanca Lapizco-Encinas keynote lecture and invited seminar

Dr. Blanca Lapizco-Encinas gave two invited talks: i) a seminar on February 26 at the BME Colloquium Series of University of Rochester and ii) a Keynote lecture via videoconference on March 1 at the III International Seminar on Process Engineering held at Tecnologico de Monterrey, in Monterrey, Mexico.

February 2013

Congratulations to BME Junior Kayla Wheeler!

Biomedical Engineering junior Kayla Wheeler , of the RIT Women's Basketball team, was selected to the 2012-13 Capital One Academic All-District III Women's Basketball Team. Wheeler is now eligible for the 2012-13 Capital One Academic All-American team. Congratulation to Kayla as a successful athlete and BME student! The full article is accessible here .

November 2012

BSIA Lab received Effective Access Technology Funding

Dr. Behnaz Ghoraani (see photo below) received funding from The Vice President for Research to develop “Patient Awareness Device for Aging Populations with Atrial Fibrillation Risk”. The scope of this study is focused on designing a practical and economic assistive device for aging population that detects asymptomatic atrial fibrillation attack in early stages and could prevent a stroke, heart failure, and frequent hospitalization.

Outreach: BSIA Lab presented a workshop" Why do I hear my heart beats when I exercise?" to middle school students.

Dr. Behnaz Ghoraani presented a workshop to the middle school students from school 43 as part of BEYOND NINE POINT EIGHT outreach activity directed by Dr. Satish Kandlikar. The workshop entitled “Why do I hear my heart beats when I exercise?” was designed to make Biomedical Engineering (BME) appealing to the students. They were inspired to learn about the function of the heart and perform scientific experiments/measurements to find the effect of their activities on the heart function. The students also learned how to record their measurements and plot them in a graph. The students experienced the limitations that exist in different measurement methods and how Biomedical Engineers develop devices to overcome these limitations.

October 29, 2012

RIT-AIChE student chapter attends National Meeting

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE ) student chapter at RIT recently attended the 2012 Annual Conference in Pittsburg PA. In the past five years the student chapter has expanded greatly from 30 students in 2009 to 90+ active students in 2012. With the help of the department, this student chapter had the opportunity to send a greater number of students to the conference each year. Twelve students attended the conference this year, three presented their research during the undergraduate poster competition.

At the annual conference the students had many opportunities to build leadership skills, participate in club and career building workshops, and meet professionals and other student chapters from around the continent. Some of these workshops included: How a Strong Chapter Contributes to a Strong ChemE Program , Interacting with your Local Section , Corporate Sponsorship , and more. The students watched the ChemE Car Competition, where student designed cars powered by a chemical reaction were challenged to go a specific distance while carrying extra weight. The club set plans to compete in the spring at the Regional Conference at UMass Amherst. David Olney, Karen Soule, and Samantha Abraham had the privilege of presenting their research in a poster completion where they and their posters were judged on organization, content, and knowledge of their research. All the students had a great time at the conference and left with proactive ideas to improve the chapter.

October 18, 2012 Dr. Patricia Taboada-Serrano featured in the RIT Athenaeum

Dr. Patricia Taboada-Serrano was featured in the article “ Causing a chemical reaction: Research in clean energy and water conservation are a passion for chemical engineer ,” published by the RIT Athenaeum. The article tells the fascinating story of her journey to obtain her Ph.D. from Georgia Tech, as well as her research in clean-energy development and gas-hydrate formation and deionization for water treatment. Dr. Taboada-Serrano joined the Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Department in August 2011.

October 14, 2012 Dr. Behnaz Ghoraani elevated to senior member of IEEE

Dr. Behnaz Ghoraani was elevated to a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering ( IEEE ) in October 2012. Through her volunteer work as a graduate student, and as a member of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society , Signal Processing Society and Women in Engineering group, she has been extremely active in the IEEE technical and professional communities. Dr. Ghoraani has served as a technical reviewer for several IEEE journals and international conferences. She has also been active in the IEEE professional activities, serving several roles including the coordinator of IEEE Canada Women in Engineering ( WIE ) as well as serving as a program committee member and technical program coordinator for several IEEE conferences. Only 8% of IEEE's approximately 416,000 members hold this grade, which requires extensive experience, and reflects professional maturity and documented achievements of significance.