Personnel

Principal Investigator
	Bruce Gale Professor & Chair Mechanical Engineering Merit Medical Systems Inc. Endowed Professor Director, Center of Excellence for Biomedical Microfluidics Office: 3711 SMBB/1580 MEK E-mail: gale@mech.utah.edu Phone: (801) 585-5944 Google Scholar Citations

Senior Researchers
	Himanshu Sant - Research Associate Professor Research Areas: Pathogen detection, exosome separations, and miniature medical devices

Current Graduate Students
	Mohammad H M Shad - Ph.D. Candidate (Mechanical Engineering) Research Area: Mohi is interested in microfluidics and particle characterization, and he is currently leading a project on Electrical Field Flow Fractionation (El-FFF) for the separation of ionic particles. This project not only focuses on the separation process but also delves into the characterization of Cy-ElFFFF, investigating the effects of different electrode materials on particle isolation, and simulating the separation of ionic particles. His interests extend to microfluidic device design, data analysis, and the application of Statistical Learning techniques. Mohi is skilled in simulating fluid mechanics, solid mechanics, and heat transfer, and his work adeptly bridges theoretical research with practical applications in microfluidic technologies.
	Matt D. Nelson - Ph.D. Candidate (Biomedical Engineering) Research Area: Matt is interested in microphysiological systems (MPS), which are microfluidic devices that better recapitulate cellular microenvironments through the incorporation of mechanotransduction and physiologically relevant biomaterials. He is specifically interested in creating a model of the distal lung by combining additive manufacturing techniques with the integration of natural extracellular matrix membranes. (Matt on Google Scholar)
	Yunhao Peng - Ph.D. Candidate (Mechanical Engineering) Research Area: Peng is working to apply electric impedance flow cytometry to inertial microfluidic to detect and sort cells including bacteria within a heterogeneous population. This technology has the potential for assisted reproductive technology while providing an alternative to the gold standard (flow cytometry) with unique advantages including label-free, low-cost and chip-based operation.
	Brady Goenner - Ph.D. Candidate (Mechanical Engineering) Research Area: Brady's research involves developing an automated system to design microfluidics. As microfluidics have matured, many innovative technologies have been created to make it easier to fabricate more intricate systems. Brady is interested in developing tools to enable engineers to take advantage of these advances. Much like microelectronics, microfluidics can be broken down into a set of functional components with simpler equations. His Ph.D. work is on understanding how to encapsulate the necessary equations and solve them for microfluidic systems so we can simulate them efficiently at a system level. He is also interested in the application of 3D printing for fabricating microfluidic devices. He hopes to transform healthcare through combining these technologies which can facilitate the deployment of new microfluidic developments.
	Greg Liddiard - Ph.D. Candidate (Mechanical Engineering) Research Area: Greg is interested in integrated, automated microfluidic instruments for performing complex biological microreactions for transcriptomic sample prep and pathogen detection in a clinical setting. This work involves disposable microfluidic chips, rapid-change microfluidic interfaces for thermal and flow control of the reaction volumes, and peripheral equipment for automation.
	Sabin Nepal - Ph.D. Student (Mechanical Engineering) Research Area: Sabin's research focuses on inertial microfluidics, where he has been designing and developing commercially viable microfluidic devices for cell preparation and separation that caters to processes involving in-vitro human spermatogenesis and intrauterine insemination. His past work involves a reconfigurable liquid metal antenna and an automated microfluidic instrument for on-chip bioassays, among others.
	Bahareh Kazemi - Ph.D. Student (Mechanical Engineering) Research Area: Bahar's research focuses on the development of cost-effective microfluidic devices as alternatives to conventional large liquid handling systems. These devices are specifically designed for the metatranscriptomic (RNA) analysis of clinical specimens, showcasing their potential utility in enhancing precision and efficiency in clinical research.
	Munawar Jawad - Ph.D. Student (Mechanical Engineering) Research Area: Munawar’s primary research areas include Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices and 3D printing. His prior work focuses on developing an automated microfluidic instrument that can perform on-chip RNA extraction, which is then used for sequencing. Currently, Munawar is working on developing a self-powered, point-of-care (PoC) device for rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibody in user blood. (Munawar on LinkedIn)
	Ata Ullah - Ph.D. Student (Biomedical Engineering) Research Area: Ata focuses on the fabrication of microfluidic devices for motile sperm sorting, which can potentially answer questions related to human evolution and infertility. He is also working on in-vitro spermatogenesis to address male infertility.
	Shamima Juthi - Ph.D. Student (Mechanical Engineering) Research Area: Shamima's research focuses on developing frequency-reconfigurable liquid metal patch antenna that can be tuned by applying pneumatic pressure.
	Afroza Tabassum Akhi - Masters Student (ECE) Research Area: Afroza’s research focuses on developing an automated system by designing a large-scale component to improve the software for the future to design microfluidics. Her Prior work was focused on advancing Agglutination Categorization in Medical Images Using SVM and Multilevel Classification Techniques. She is also interested in the application of 3D printing for fabricating microfluidic devices.

	Name	Thesis Topic	Degree	Dept.	Defense Date
1	Nithin Narayan	Microscale SPLITT Fractionation	MS	ME	Aug 2004
2	Aju Badardeen	Oxygen Sensing Using Electrostatic Layer by layer Assembly	MS	ME	Dec 2004
3	David Chang-yen	Design of Microscale Fluidic Sensing Arrays	PhD	ME	Apr 2005
4	Ameya Kantak	Microscale Cyclical Electrical Field Flow Fractionation	PhD	ME	Jul 2005
5	Rajesh Gopalakrishnan	Nanoassembled Glucose Sensing	MS	ECE	Nov 2005
6	Siddharth Chakravarthy	Polymerized Liposome Analysis with FFF	MS	ME	Dec 2005
7	Ryan Sincic	DNA Extraction from Cancer Cells	MS	Bioen	May 2006
8	Casey Pehrson	Microneedle Arrays	MS	ME	May 2006
9	Josh Eckman	Microfluidic Spotter Design	MS	ME	Dec 2006
10	John Maxwell	Integrated Electronics and Pneumatics	MS	ME	Aug 2007
11	Tammy Ho	A Novel Paraffin-Based Microactuator	MS	Bioen	Dec 2007
12	Sriram Natarajan	High Density Biomolecule Spotting Systems	PhD	ChemE	Apr 2008
13	Niel Crews	Ultra High Speed DNA Analysis	PhD	ME	May 2008
14	Himanshu Sant	Microscale Field flow Fractionation	PhD	Bioen	Jun 2008
15	Mark Eddings	Integrated Biomolecule Spotting Systems	PhD	Bioen	Aug 2008
16	Jungkyu Kim	Integrated High Desity DNA Extraction and Analysis	PhD	Bioen	Sep 2008
17	Clint Holtey	Microvalves Integrated into Printed Circuit Boards	MS	ME	Dec 2008
18	Merugu Srinivas	Modeling of Cyclical Electrical Field Flow Fractionation	PhD	ECE	Apr 2009
19	Rahul Sonkul	Hybrid PDMS/PMMA Microfluidic Systems	MS	ME	May 2009
20	Rajesh Surapaneni	DNA Extraction	MS	ME	Dec 2009
21	Rohit Sharma	Real Time DNA Extraction Measurement	MS	ME	Dec 2009
22	Venu Arremsetty	Microscale Flow SPLITT System	MS	ME	May 2010
23	Austin Welborn	Modeling of microfluidic eye implants	MS	ME	Aug 2010
24	Scott Sundberg	High density arrays for Homogenous RT-PCR	PhD	Bioen	Dec 2010
25	Doug Anjewierden	Electrostatic Integrated Valves for Microfluidics	MS	ME	May 2011
26	Keng-Min Lin	A Novel Drug Delivery Device for the Eye	MS	ME	May 2011
27	Erik Liddiard	Microfluidic Worm Sorting	MS	Bioen	Aug 2011
28	Victoria Ragsdale	Heat Transfer Analysis of Polymers for Flow PCR	MS	ME	Dec 2011
29	Cody Gehrke	Vascular Coupling Device	MS	ME	May 2012
30	Onur Tasci	Nanoparticle Characterization using Electrical FFF	PhD	Bioen	May 2013
31	BJ Minson	Polycarbonate Microfluidic DNA Analysis Systems	MS	ME	May 2013
32	Nathan Gooch (co)	Intraocular Drug Delivery Device	PhD	Bioen	May 2013
33	Michael Johnson	Microfluidic Systems for Rapid Biological Assays	PhD	ME	Aug 2013
34	Raheel Samuel	Microfluidic Systems for Neurotechnology	PhD	ME	Apr 2014
35	Keng Min Lin	Miniature Drug Delivery Devices	PhD	ME	Apr 2014
36	Harikrishnan Jayamohan	Nanoscale Bacteria Sensing Systems	PhD	ME	May 2015
37	Huizhong Li	A Vascular Coupling Device	PhD	ME	May 2015
38	Greg Liddiard	Electrostatic Actuated Valves	MS	ME	May 2015
39	Scott Ho	Manufacture of Nerve Regeneration Devices	MS	ME	Jun 2015
40	Russ Reid	Contact Lens Biofuel Cell	PhD	ME	Dec 2015
41	Jiyoung Son	Microfluidic Cell Separations	PhD	ECE	May 2017
42	Pratima Labroo	Nerve Regeneration Devices	PhD	ME	May 2017
43	Ryan Brewster	PLGA Vessel Anastomosis	MS	ME	May 2017
44	Kevin Petersen	Exosome Separations	PhD	ME	May 2018
45	Arlen Chung	Zebrafish Genotyping Chip Optimization	MS	ME	May 2018
46	Valentin Romanov	Synthesis of lipid vesicles and other biological assays enabled by advanced rapid prototyping techniques	PhD	ME	Dec 2018
47	Marzieh Chaharlang	separation dynamics of bio-particles	PhD	Physics	Nov 2019
48	Haidong Feng	PARTICLE MANIPULATION AND SEPARATION IN INERTIAL AND VISCOELASTIC FLOW	PhD	ME	May 2020
49	Alex Jafek	A MICROFLUIDIC, AUTOMATED INSTRUMENT TO IMPROVE CLINICAL SPERM PREPARATIONS	PhD	ME	May 2020
50	John Nelson	FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF A VASCULAR COUPLER FOR MICROSURGERY: CONSIDERING SIZE AND SAFETY	MS	ME	Aug 2020
51	Ugochuckwu Nze	SAMPLE PREPERATION DEVICES FOR ENHANCED AND RAPID DETECTION OF FOOD/WATERBORNE PATHOGENS	PhD	ME	Dec 2020
52	Brett Davis	LOCAL FK506-DELIVERING NERVE WRAP FOR TREATMENT OF PERIPHERAL NERVE INJURIES	PhD	ME	May 2021
53	Mike Beeman	Rapid and Sensitive Electrochemical Detection of Bacteria Using a Field Deployable Automated System	PhD	ME	May 2021
54	Susan Wojtalewicz		MS	ME	Dec 2021
55	Dhruv Patel		PhD	ME	Dec 2022
56	Tawsif Mahmood	Electrochemical and Flow-Based Techniques for Food and Water Safety	PhD	ME	May 2023
57	Utpal Saha		PhD	EE	May 2023
58	Nusrat Tazin		PhD	EE
59	Chris Lambert		PhD	ME	Aug 2023

SPRING 2019

“The Zipper” Zebrafish Dispenser – Medical researchers have requested a device to increase the time efficiency of transferring zebrafish from a petri dish to individual wells. Currently researchers use 5mL disposable pipettes to individually “hunt” down zebrafish and transfer each one to their assigned well; which is time and labor intensive. The goal for this project is to design a fully automated device that is able to dispense zebrafish individually from a large group of fish. The dispensing device dispenses embryos using a syringe pump and a photo sensor to sense fish passing through the dispensing channel.  (“The Zipper” Zebrafish Dispenser Poster)

• Team: Dan Lee, Hanna Nizam, Brett Reeder (lead)
• Advisor: Dr. Bruce Gale

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Fall 2018

96 Channel Pump Array: Development of new biologic therapies can cost, on average, $2.6 billion, can take 10 years for development, and many do not even make it through clinical trials to market. Carterra hopes to significantly reduce cost and time while increasing success rates with a new testing procedure that would develop a database of effects between antibodies and antigens for pharmaceutical research. This procedure would make use of microfluidic technology developed at the University of Utah. Current technology can handle 96 samples at a single time; however, because the device can handle so many samples, the company and microfluids lab require a cost-effective pumping solution for their device. In addition to a low cost, the pump needs to produce flow rates between 5-200 µL/min with very little pressure noise.

Our group developed a novel solution we call the Constant Contact peristaltic Pump (or CCPP). The CCPP smashes medical tubing between rollers to produce flow. By innovating on current pumping solutions, we have made high volume microfluid pumping cheaper and more effective than similar products on the market today. (96 Channel Pump Array Poster)

• Team: Joseph blash, Brian Lee, Joseph Blash, Connor Wade (lead)
• Advisors: Dr. Bruce Gale, Brady Goenner

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Biomedical Device Development for Andology Clinics: One in six couples of reproductive age worldwide are affected by some form of infertility.  Procedures to initiate pregnancy such as intrauterine insemination (IUI) and in vitro insemination (IVF) require several semen preparation steps. These current techniques are time consuming, expensive, may lose viable sperm, may cause damage to sperm, and involve human interaction steps that can lead to error. The collection of these problems drives a demand for a solution of a faster, simpler, and gentler technique that allows for a higher recovery of quality sperm.

• Team: Dan Folsom (lead), Cameron Hendricks, Jaron Ortega, Mitch Shepherd, Trevor Teerlink
• Advisor: Dr. Bruce Gale

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SPRING 2017

Affordable Insulin Pump: To maintain their health and current lifestyle, people with Type I Diabetes use an insulin pump to control and maintain their blood sugar throughout the day. Our team has been working on making an insulin pump that is less expensive than the current model, but just as safe and accurate at delivering insulin to the patient. We accomplished this by designing a kit assembly model that will be more affordable, customizable, and allow for individual part replacement. Patients will no longer need to replace the entire pump if one part fails. (Affordable Insulin Pump Poster)

• Team: Cherry Gregory, Young-Jun Jeon, Joshua Stubbs, McKayla Whitehead (lead)
• Advisor: Dr. Bruce Gale

 

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Automated Stem Cell Separation: The Automated Stem Cell Separator group developed a mechanical device for separating stem cell from human adipose (fat) cells so that the stem cells can then be used for medical treatment and reintroduced to the same patient. A mechanical approach was used to meet FDA regulations. Specifically, a fluid cavitation process, which creates small shockwaves resulting from a swift change in pressure within the device, was used to break apart the adipose tissue and detach the cells from the surrounding fat. Multiple designs of the device were fabricated and tested to determine an optimal design that could be incorporated into a full system that separates the stem cells for subsequent reintroduction into the patient. (Automated Stem Cell Separation Poster)

• Team: Travis Gowen, Joelle Hardy, Nelson Nieto, Brianna Potter, Megan Roach (lead)
• Advisors: Drs. Bruce Gale, Himanshu Sant

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SPRING 2016

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96 Channel Microfluidic Pump: Wasatch Microfluidics needs to replace their microfluidic pump system. The 96 Channel Pump Team plans to develop a simplified multi-channel pump designed to address the customer’s needs. To overcome the deficiencies of the existing design, the designed device will include a simplified pump system, material that is compatible with the fluids to be pumped, and a storage location for the fluid. The pump will use the precious fluid instead of air as the driving fluid, thus increasing volumetric flow accuracy. The designed pump system will consist of 96 channels that will be able to aspirate or dispense simultaneously.  Wasatch Microfluidics needs a single, compact, relatively inexpensive, non-contaminating, highly accurate pump system capable of pumping 96 samples simultaneously. (96 Channel Microfluidic Pump poster)

• Team: Brian Butler, Rodolfo Garcia, Tanner Hatch (lead), Bryan Luke
• Advisor: Dr. Bruce Gale

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Automated Stem Cell Separation: The function of the Automated Stem Cell Separator(ASCS) is to remove the Stromal Vascular Fraction(SVF) from harvested adipose tissue. The ASCS is a completely mechanical device that creates a pressure drop to induce hydrodynamic cavitation which breaks down the adipose tissue structure allowing for the separation of the SVF. (Automated Stem Cell Separation poster)

• Team: Anthony Berceau, Tyler Crouse, Justin Fawson (lead), Jesse Hanson, Zachary kelly, Agustus Schwab
• Advisor: Dr. Himanshu Sant

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Inflatable Shorts: For many quadriplegics and paraplegics bedsores, also known as pressure sores are a serious threat to overall health and quality of life. Bedsores are the breakdown of skin and underlying tissue due to prolonged pressure on a concentrated point. Bedsores are most often developed around Ischial and hip bones. In current hospital settings solutions to mitigating the development of bed sores are limited to specialty beds that alternate inflatable sections to increase surface area and reduce overall pressure experienced by the individual. For those in wheel chairs there are some fairly effectively bedsore mitigation devices, however, they are limited to a sit-in cushion design and are extremely costly. The inflatable shorts team goal is to develop a wearable pair of shorts that will mitigate the development of bedsores wherever the patient is sitting. (Inflatable Shorts poster)

• Team: Sean Jones, Shem Lemmon, Grant Mendenhall, Michael Pfeil, Alex Zvirzdin (lead)
• Advisor: Dr. Himanshu Sant

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Rising Toilet Seat: Many elderly and persons with disabilities struggle to get on and off the toilet by themselves forcing them to give up their independence and move to care facilities. There are currently passive devices such as toilet seat boosters and handrails that provide assistance with this task, but they are often inadequate. Several active lifting devices are available, but these devices are electric powered, which requires the user to run a power cord through the bathroom, because outlets are typically not located near the toilet. Another drawback is that these devices are too wide for many residential bathrooms therefore requiring renovation to install. The Rising Toilet Seat Team is addressing these problems by creating a hydraulic powered lift device. The device mounts in place of the toilet seat and uses the existing toilet water supply line for power. The water usage is small and the water is drained into the toilet tank so that it can be later used for flushing. No power outlet is required and the device is small enough to fit in the majority of bathrooms without any renovation. (Rising Toilet Seat poster)

• Team: Khoa Dinh, Jose Garcia, Cody Mitchell (lead), Brandon Wilstead
• Advisors: Drs. Bala Ambati, Bruce Gale

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SPRING 2015

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BIO-SENSING CHIP: The Bio-Sensing Chip is an early-warning system designed to detect diseases in the initial stages. The device is a proof of concept project that might eventually be implanted into the human body to alert the patient to seek medical attention before the disease fully develops. It detects disease by identifying biomarkers that become present in the bloodstream as a result of a disease. Biomarkers are biological responses to disease, infection, and other phenomena. The quantity of biomarkers in a person’s body relate to the advancement of the disease. Additionally, the Bio-Sensing Chip can detect biomarkers by chemically attaching them to microspheres. The quantity of these microspheres can be measured and correlated to the stage of a disease. The user of the device can then be alerted to the presence of the disease and seek further medical care. (Bio-Sensing Chip Poster)

• Team: Rachel Ware (lead), Sarah Bentley, Jaron Peck, Parker Vance
• Advisor: Dr. Bruce Gale

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SPRING 2013