News & EventsDepartment Events
Events
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May7
EVENT DETAILSmore info
The Many Phases Of A Cell
Living cells routinely orchestrate millions of interactions, reactions, and transport amongst biomolecules in crowded, heterogeneous environments to run the functions of life. These molecules are not well-mixed inside a cell. Rather, they self-organize into dozens of coexisting membraneless compartments called biomolecular condensates. In this talk, I describe an emerging paradigm that describes how condensates form and function through phase transitions. I will touch upon the broader themes of self-organization and molecular ensembles through specific examples drawn from our lab’s research and share my career path.
Krishna Shrinivas is an Assistant Professor of ChBE at Northwestern where he leads an interdisciplinary lab that develops models to understand and engineer life. He was previously a fellow at Harvard, and before that, completed his PhD in ChemE at MIT. Although trained entirely in ChemE, his interests, research, and career has taken him through various pitstops that span chemistry, biology, physics, and math.
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
The 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
EVENT DETAILSmore info
TBD
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
The 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
TBD
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
The 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
EVENT DETAILSmore info
TBD
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
More 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
EVENT DETAILSmore info
TBD
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
More 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
EVENT DETAILSmore info
2024-2025 Commencement Ceremony
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
McCormick 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
McCormick 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