A Description of Materials Engineering

A Description of Chemical Engineering

Environmental Engineering a program in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. Manufacturing Engineers "prevent" pollution and clean-up of the environment by choosing and developing cleaner manufacturing processes. Many companies are emphasizing "prevention" over "clean-up" in their company strategy and it is in the choice and design of the processes they use that this occurs. Industrial Engineers help identify alternatives and justify the cost of environmental efforts by showing how the company and society both benefit.

Fiber-optic biosensor for detection of botulinum neurotoxin. Ertan Salik, esalik@csupomona.edu, Physics Department and Wei-Jen Lin, weijenlin@csupomona.edu, Biological Sciences Department. Biosensors use biological molecules for detection of a myriad of significant parameters in the context of environmental protection, medical diagnostics, drug screening, food safety, and bio-defense. Although many detection techniques have been invented since the light microscope, most of them can only be implemented in laboratories by trained operators, and require hours or days. In some fields, such a s bio-defense, this is not acceptable. Sensitive, portable low-cost detectors that can do real-time detection are much needed. Imagine the possibility of our air, water, and food supplies being contaminated by Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) and Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT), which are in the category A bio-defense list. Only 1 g of BoNT is enough to kill 1 milion people. We propose to build sensitive, lightweight and small size fiber-optic sensors for BoNT detection that are capable of working in hazardous, hostile, explosive and inflammable environments and can give results in real time. The sensitivity of the fiber-optic evanescent-wave biosensors is limited by non-specific binding and background interference effects. We will address these limitations by identifying and developing high-affinity antibodies and with novel optical configuration for the sensor.

Investigation of Sterilization and Bacterial Biofilms destruction using Gas Discharge Plasmas. Nina Abramzon, nabramzon@csupomona.edu, Physics Department; Graciela Brelles-Mariño, gbrelles@csupomona.edu, and Wei-Jen Lin, weijenlin@csupomona.edu Biological Sciences Department.

Bacteria and bacterial biofilms on surfaces cost the nation billions of dollars yearly in equipment damage, product contamination, energy losses and medical infections.  Biofilms are responsible for diseases such as otitis media and play a role in cystic fibrosis and Legionnarie's disease among others. Biofilms commonly colonize many household surfaces, including toilets, sinks, countertops and cutting boards, they cause pipe plugging, corrosion and water contamination in industries. Conventional methods of killing bacteria (such as antibiotics, sterilization by heat, sterilization by chemical processes and UV radiation) are often limited and ineffective with bacterial biofilms.  The use of the plasmas offers a very effective alternative to conventional sterilization methods as plasmas contain a mixture of charged particles (ions, electron), chemically reactive species, and UV radiation.  We propose to study the effect of plasmas on biofilm, bacterial cells, and spores.

 Study of Sol-Gel Silica Microparticles for Injectable Controlled Drug Delivery. Winny Dong, winnydong@csupomona.edu, Chemical & Material Engineering and Wei-Jen Lin,weijenlin@csupomona.edu Biological Sciences Department. 

Sol-gel derived silica is a biologically inert, biodegradable, inorganic material that is compatible with various biomolecules.  The PIs have conducted preliminary studies showing that enzymes encapsulated in sol-gel derived silica particles remain active even after being dried and stored at room temperature for over weeks.  Furthermore, these enzymes can be released from the particles at a controlled rate.  Factors that control the amount of enzyme released include particle size and time. This proposal aims to conduct a more detailed study on the relationship between particle size and protein release rate in order to determine the mode of release.  The effects of pore size will also be investigated.  The results of this project will aid in the design of injectable vehicles for controlled drug delivery. The potential benefit of this study is far-reaching.  Many different types of medical treatments require drugs to be injected to a specific site or directly into the bloodstream.  However, this often means that the patient is exposed to a high dose of drug immediately after injection and the effects of the drug can fade quickly.  Biodegradable, injectable vehicles that can release drugs at a controlled rate can aid in the management of patient care and reduce the frequency of injections needed in chronic illnesses.