With the help of photolithography and programmable DNA, researchers have created a new technique that can rapidly ‘print’ two-dimensional arrays of cells and proteins that mimic a wide variety of cellular environments in the body. This technique could help scientists develop a better understanding of the complex cell-to-cell messaging that dictates a cell’s final fate.
New Technique ‘Prints’ Cells to Create Diverse Biological Environments
Like humans, cells are easily influenced by peer pressure. Take a neural stem cell in the brain: Whether this cell remains a stem cell or differentiates into a fully formed brain cell is ultimately determined by a complex set of molecular messages the cell receives from countless neighbors. Understanding these messages is key for scientists …
VR/AR Designs Could Gain Touch Capability
Today’s augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies simulate a vivid interactive experience by altering the scene users see and the sounds they hear. But what if users could also feel their way through an experience?
Adding Touch to Virtual and Augmented Reality
Today’s augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies simulate a vivid interactive experience by altering the scene users see and the sounds they hear. But what if users could also feel their way through an experience?
Are We on the Cusp of Frictionless Mechanical Systems?
Mechanical systems, such as gears and wheels, are core components of machines that we use daily. But these machines often require expensive maintenance or replacement because friction caused by physical contact — gears grinding or wheels rubbing against another material — can wear these systems down, causing them to malfunction or work inefficiently.
ME PostDoc Jeongmin Kim Wins 2019 PicoQuant Young Investigator Award at SPIE BiOS
The winners of the Young Investigator Award 2019 are Hugh Wilson for his talk “Tetherless and long-term single molecule FRET in an anti-Brownian trap” and Jeongmin Kim for his talk “Oblique lightsheet STORM for tissue samples.” Congratulations!
Lin Lab Engineers Develop Origami Electronics Using Cheap, Foldable Paper
Originally published in Berkeley ENGINEERING on 6/18/18 by Wallace Ravven, Image by Xining Zang UC Berkeley engineers have given new meaning to the term “working paper.” Using inexpensive materials, they have fabricated foldable electronic switches and sensors directly onto paper, along with prototype generators, supercapacitors and other electronic devices for a range of applications. Research …
Sohn Lab Engineers Squeeze Cells Through Microtubes to Detect Cancer
Originally published on 4/17/18 | Berkeley ENGINEERING News by Wallace Ravven Photo by Noah Berger Over the course of her lifetime, a woman has a one in eight chance of developing breast cancer. With the past few decades’ advances in early detection and treatment, a diagnosis by no means forecasts defeat. The earlier the cancer …
Nature’s Microsystems & Nanoengineering Spotlights Sohn Research Lab’s Paper as Featured Article
A research paper from the Sohn Research Lab is now the featured article in the latest issue of the online journal from Springer Nature, Microsystems Nanoengineering. Their paper, “Characterizing cellular mechanical phenotypes with mechano-node-pore sensing,” covers a “simple and innovative technique for measuring the mechanical properties of cells could lead to a versatile clinical diagnostic tool.” Congratulations …
Scientists Discover ‘Chiral Phonons’ – Atomic Rotations in a 2-D Semiconductor Crystal
A research team from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has found the first evidence that a shaking motion in the structure of an atomically thin (2-D) material possesses a naturally occurring circular rotation.
The Lin Lab’s New Hybrid Supercapacitor is Super-Charged
Originally published in Berkeley Lab News on December 2017. In research that could lead to next-generation energy storage systems, a team of Foundry scientists and users have developed a way to make a new kind of supercapacitor. By coating carbon nanotube electrodes with titanium disulfide, the researchers developed a method to create a supercapacitor with the highest …
ME PhD Student Yumeng Liu Wins Outstanding Paper Award at Transducers 2017
ME PhD student Yumeng Liu, along with his fellow Lin Lab members Huiliang Liu, Yong Cui and Takeshi Hayasaka, have won the Outstanding Paper Award at the 19th IEEE International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Transducers 2017 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. In the winning paper, Lin Lab members demonstrated “a new AC sensing scheme based on …
Lin Lab Members Win Best Student Paper Award at MEMS 2017
ME graduate students Eric Sweet and Ilbey Karakurt, along with their fellow Lin Lab members Joshua Chen and Alison Long, have won the Best Student Paper Award at the 30th IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems MEMS 2017 in Las Vegas, NV. Their winning paper demonstrates “a fully-3D printed multi-input microfluidic concentration gradient generator, …
ME Professor Lydia Sohn to be Inducted into Medical and Biological Engineering Elite
For immediate release: February 6, 2017 For further information, contact Jason Hibner, Director of Membership & Operations, 202 496-9660, jhibner@aimbe.org WASHINGTON, D.C.— The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering AIMBE has announced the pending induction of Lydia Sohn, Ph.D., Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, to its College of Fellows. Dr. Sohn was …
American Society of Mechanical Engineers Features ME Professor Xiang Zhang in New Video
Our YouTube page now features a video by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME, featuring ME Professor Xiang Zhang, who was awarded their Nancy DeLoye Fitzroy and Roland V. Fitzroy Medal last Fall. Professor Zhang was honored for his “pioneering contributions in metamaterials and the creation of the first optical superlens to overcome the …
ME Professor Liwei Lin’s 3D-Printed Smart Cap in the News
ME Professor Liwei Lin, and fellow UC Berkeley engineers, have developed a 3D-printed “smart cap” to help you keep track of spoiling foods. Berkeley News quotes Professor Lin as saying, “Our paper describes the first demonstration of 3D printing for working basic electrical components, as well as a working wireless sensor. One day, people may …