The Department of Chemical Engineering will be hosting a Distinguished Seminar delivered by Professor Stratos Pistikopoulos.
The Chemical Engineering Department is hosting a special distinguished speaker seminar on Can biotechnology deliver cost effective liquid fuels from renewable feedstocks?
The Chemical Engineering Department is hosting a special graduate seminar on Synthesizing a Circular Economy.
The Department of Chemical Engineering (ChE) and the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) are partnering to organize a series of discourses on technology-based solutions to global challenges linked to UN Sustainable Development Goals.
We are pleased to present another discourse in our series:Circular Economies: Electronic and ElectrochemicalDevices.
In a closed MASc Oral Exam Abigail Conner will be discussing her research.
Abstract: Biomaterial-mediated nonviral gene delivery has gained recent interest due to its potential to facilitate localized transfection while providing scaffolding for regenerating tissues. Surface topography can also be incorporated onto the biointerface to prime cells for transfection. In this thesis, a chitosan-polyethyleneimine (CS-PEI) copolymer is used as a gene carrier for plasmid DNA and microRNA. The use of topography to enhance CS-PEI transfection is explored in multiple contexts, with an emphasis on vascular tissue engineering applications.
In a closed session Minh Xuan Nguyen will discuss their research.
Abstract: The present study aimed to explore the effects of CA modified okara materials on the characterization of soymilk okara gels as well as gain understanding of the underlying mechanisms of okara modification and gelation. After the modification with CA, the fiber in okara is hypothesized to be hydrolyzed, along with the release of soluble polysaccharides such as pectic substances, ultimately enhancing the compatibility of the CA modified okara with the soymilk protein matrix. The impacts of the physical state of CA (liquid or
solid) and the drying time during the okara modifications to textural characterization of the soymilk gels were first examined. The sample preparations of the soymilk okara gels for the measurements of the rheological and mechanical properties to improve reproducibility, as well as the development of a methodology to evaluate protein – protein interactions were examined. Subsequently, the changes in CA modified okara and the characteristics of soymilk okara gels were examined. To maintain uniform soymilk quality across experiments, the solid content of soymilk was measured by drying method at 60 °C for 3 h in the oven and kept constant at the level of 15 to 16 % (w:w
In a closed session Fancheng Sun will discuss their research.
Abstract: Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) can lead to corneal blindness if untreated. A study to further explore the pathology of the FECD is needed. By utilizing an immortalized FECD corneal endothelial cell line FECD 54F and a biomimicking guttata model, we found that the FECD cells seeded on the guttata patterns have higher cytoskeleton contractility and apoptosis rate.
By employing a concave contact lens, we found that FECD 54F cells migrated faster than the B4G12 cells on the concave side of the gelatin methacrylate+.
Implementation of the two-fluid model with enhanced physical fidelity using Discontinuous Galerkin method
Carbon capture is a promising way to slow down climate change from anthropogenic sources. One of the carbon capture technologies that is being actively researched is adsorption. Given the increasing amount of literature that present novel ideas, being able to predict this information based on adsorbent textural properties is desirable. In this thesis, machine learning is used to construct a model to estimate adsorbent performance.
In this thesis, Nafion membranes were modified with single to few-layer heteroatom-doped graphene with the aim of reducing vanadium crossover and possibly improving reaction kinetics within a Vanadium Redox Flow Battery (VRFB). The former was successfully achieved, while the investigation of the latter demonstrated limitations in the application of some established analysis techniques to systems such as VRFBs. Reduced graphene oxide did appear to have a positive effect on the reaction kinetics.