Top Presenters Announced for the 2014-2015 Graduate Student Seminar Series
The department is pleased to announce top presenters for this year’s Graduate Student Seminar Series, as voted by attending first-year and third-year Ph.D. students:
Top Presenter
Ben Wendel (Georgiou Group)
A System Immunology Approach to the Development of Natural Immunity to Malaria
Ben’s research explores the progression of the immune system with age with implications in malaria immunity and vaccine efficacy.
Runners-up
Ellen Wagner (Maynard Group)
Interface Engineering for Next-Generation Antibody Therapeutics
Ellen’s research aims to develop technologies to facilitate the generation of novel antibody therapeutics for the treatment of infectious diseases.
Reika Katsumata (Ellison Group)
Interfacial Effects on the Mobility of Nanoconfined Polymer Melt
Reika’s research advances the fundamental understanding of the interfacial effects on nanoconfined polymer dynamics in order to tailor the properties of nanostructured materials, such as thin films and nanocomposites.
A special thanks to corporate partner representatives Chris Quinn (AkzoNobel), Jean Tom (Bristol-Myers Squibb) and Bobby Laughlin (DuPont). We are very grateful for partner contributions and
Thanks to all the speakers for their thoughtfulness in presenting, to graduate students Joe Abatemarco and Bart Dear for organizing these weekly seminars and to Professor Hal Alper for overseeing the program.
Tags: AkzoNobel, Ben Wendel, bristol-Myers Squibb, ChE, chemical engineering, Chris Ellison, DuPont, Ellen Wagner, George Georgiou, graduate student seminar series, graduate students, Hal Alper, immune system, Jennifer Maynard, malaria immunity, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, polymer dynamics, Reika Katsumata, therapeutic vaccines, UT, vaccines