Intellectual Merit: Detection and quantification of biological and chemical species are central to solving a wide variety of challenges faced by modern society in many areas, such as biomedical diagnostics, health care, and global safety and security from chemical and biological threats, pathogens, and potential terror attacks. Biosensor-based technology including biochips and micro/nano-devices are expending rapidly in recent years to meet the growing needs for miniaturized easy-to-use devices for achieving rapid, selective and sensitive detection of various target molecules for a wide range of applications. This Biosensor, Biochips and Micro/nano-Devices Symposium is to bring together scientists in the biosensor field who are working at the interface of engineering and life science to discuss new findings, current progresses, and future perspectives in the field. This symposium will include four sessions: Sensors and Biosensors, Bioinstrumentation and Devices, Bio-MEMS/NEMs, and Bio-Nanotechnology. The symposium will especially encourage undergraduate and graduate student participation, and encourage students to present their research work as oral or poster format. The symposium will enhance the pipeline of our future scientists from different disciplines (engineering and science) and enhance the scientific training of our next generation of scientists in the emerging biosensor fields. The majority of the proposed budget will be supporting students to attend the symposium. The Symposium will be organized at the Institute of Biological Engineering (IBE) Annual conference which will be held at the Loews Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia, March 3-5, 2011. IBE (www.ibe.org) is a professional organization which was established to promote broad inquiry in the fundamentals of biological engineering at all levels? and from molecular to organism to landscape scales. IBE is bringing engineering to life science through biology-inspired engineering. As the Biosensor field by its nature is interdisciplinary, the IBE annual conference is an ideal place to organize this Biosensors, Biochips and Micro/nano- Devices Symposium. Through IBE annual meetings, engineers, scientists, and technologists in many areas directly related to biosensor technology will come together to discuss the latest progress and applications of biosensor technology in food safety, environment monitoring, and biomedical diagnostics. Partnering with the Bio-business Nexus session at IBE, the symposium will also promote technology transfer in the biosensor areas by inviting representatives from local start-up companies to present their respective technologies and strategies for moving concepts to commercial success.
Broad Impact: The symposium at IBE annual conference is to discuss current progress in emerging biosensor technologies and its applications in the interface of engineering and life science among a biological engineering audience, and to promote the transfer of new technologies into commercial entities. The symposium will especially provide undergraduate and graduate students opportunities to present their research and to interact with engineers, scientists, technologists and educators in the biological engineering community, which will help to shape our students as the future leaders in biological engineering.
This conference grant supported the Biosensors, Biochips, and Micro/nano Device Symposium which was successfully held at the Institute of Biological Engineering (IBE) annual meeting, March 3-5, 2011, at the Loews Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta, GA. The Symposium brought together scientists in biosensor related fields in the biological engineering community to discuss the progress in the field and the applications of biosensors in a wide range of areas, including but not limited to food safety, environmental monitoring, biomedical diagnostics. Having the Biosensor symposium at IBE annual meeting provide a platform for the attendees to interact with all IBE conference attendees. IBE is a professional organization which promotes broad inquiry in the fundamentals of biological engineering at all levels and brings engineering to life science through biology-inspired engineering. Approximately 200 attendees attended the IBE 2011, and among the attendee, approximately 80 attendees attended the symposium in different sessions. Especially, this grant supported 9 students from 7 different universities to attend the meeting and supported one invited speaker. It provided students the opportunities to present their research at scientific conferences, and to meet with scientists, professors, industrial personals, and students from other universities who are working in close-related field, to discuss and exchange most recent developments and new knowledge and technologies in the biosensor field. It also promoted the collaboration in education, research and economic activities among academia and industry.
