The Proud Alumni of Our BAST Laboratory

We were a team of individuals, experts in state-of-the-art technology, in fluid dynamics, robotics, biophysics, chemistry, and nanobioengineering. We relied on the integrity of our academic endeavors, through decades of research and published works. The fruition of such work has brought together the most cutting-edge nanotechnology, such as nanorobotics and nanopore force spectroscopy.

Buddini Karawdeniya Ph.D.

Chemist

Dr. Buddini Karawdeniya worked mainly on the characterization of soft nanoparticles, such as adeno-associated viruses and HIV, using solid-state nanopores. Before joining BAST Lab as a postdoc, she worked on surface modification of silicon nitride nanopore surfaces with metal and organic functional groups to manipulate surface chemistry for sensing. Currently she is a research fellow at The Australian National University.
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Nuwan Bandara Ph.D.

Chemist

Dr. Nuwan Bandara established chemically-tunable controlled dielectric breakdown (CT-CDB) methods for the fabrication of solid-state nanopore. During his postdoctoral fellowship at BAST Lab, Dr. Bandara worked on protein analysis and DNA sequencing using h-BN nanopores. Currently he is a research fellow at The Australian National University.
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Jamel Ali Ph.D.

Chemical Engineer

Dr. Jamel Ali is currently an assistant professor in chemical and biomedical engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. During his PhD at BAST Lab (2013-2016), Dr. Ali worked on engineering bacterial flagellar filaments for micro- and nanoscale actuation and sensing. He was a recipient of NDSEG Fellowship for his Ph.D. research. Before joining BAST Lab, he completed his B.S., and M.S. degree in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Howard University.
Personal Webpage

Hoyeon Kim Ph.D.

Mechanical Engineer

Dr. Hoyeon Kim worked on autonomous motion control of bacteria-powered microrobots using electric fields during his Ph.D. (2011-2016) at BAST Lab. He developed static/dynamic obstacle avoidance algorithms for navigation of microbots in low Reynolds number fluidic environments. Currently he is a robotics engineer at York Exponential Inc.
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Armin Darvish Ph.D.

Biomedical Engineer

Dr. Armin Darvish worked on single molecule detection (DNA and protein) as well as single particle detection (liposomes, exosomes, viruses) with resistive pulse sensing in solid-state nanopores. His main focus during Ph.D. (2012-16) was developing a nanopore-based method for morphological analysis of soft-nanoparticles deformation in nanopores. He is currently a research scientist at BOSCH, U.S.A.
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Gaurav Goyal Ph.D.

Biomedical Engineer

Dr. Gaurav Goyal is currently a researcher at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. During his Ph.D. at BAST Lab (2011-15), he worked on graphene nanopores for single protein analysis. After completing his Ph.D., he joined Quantum Biosystems Inc. to develop novel single molecule DNA sequencing technology.
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Paul S.S. Kim Ph.D.

Mechanical Engineer

Dr. Paul Kim worked on the control of Tetrahymena pyriformis using behavioral responses to various stimuli as a biological actuator. During his Ph.D. (2011-15), his research was supported by NSF EAPSI Fellowship, enabling Dr. Kim to visit work on microcyborg project at Korea Institute of Science and Technology. He is currently a software engineer at Osloft Inc.

U Kei Cheang Ph.D.

Mechanical Engineer

Dr. U Kei Cheang is currently an assistant professor at the Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering at SUSTECH. He dedicated himself to the development of robotic micro- and nanoswimmers during his B.S., Ph.D., and postdoctoral fellowship (2008-16)at BAST Lab. He was a recipient of the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Before joining SUSTECH, he was a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Rowan University.
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Kevin Freedman Ph.D.

Biomedical Engineer

Dr. Kevin Freedman is an assistant professor of Bioengineering Department at UC Riverside. During his Ph.D. (2010-14) at BAST Lab, he studied single molecule protein biophysics using a solid-state nanopore. Dr. Freedman was a recipient of NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and Whitaker Postdoctoral Fellowship. His research group at UCR is focused on developing and characterizing micro and nanotechnology for studying unexplored biological systems and pathways, single cells, molecular biophysics, and kinetics.
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Wonjin Jo Ph.D.

Mechanical Engineer

Dr. Wonjin Jo worked on design, model, and synthesis of biologically inspired flagella-templated silica nanotubes. During her Ph.D. (2008-13) at BAST Lab, she also developed gold nanorods for biofilm disinfection using surface plasmonic phenomena. Dr. Jo was a postdoctoral research fellow at KIST to develop advanced functional materials including thermoplastic polymers, nanomaterials, composites, etc. by coating, embedding, or surface wettability control.
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Dalhyung Kim Ph.D.

Mechanical Engineer

Dr. Dalhyung Kim is an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering Department at Kennesaw State University. During his Ph.D. (2008-13) at BAST Lab, he worked on the development of micro-cyborgs using Tetrahymena pyriformis at low Reynolds numbers. His ongoing research at KSU is focused on motion compensation system for behaving animals, active treadmill system for walking Drosophila, and fly-driving mobile robot.
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Anmiv S. Prabhu Ph.D.

Biomedical Engineer

Dr. Anmiv Prabhu is a senior staff engineer at illumine. During his Ph.D. (2009-13) at BAST Lab, his research was to separate nanoparticles through nanoporous membranes using electrophoresis.
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Edward Steager Ph.D.

Mechanical Engineer

Dr. Edward Steager is currently a senior research investigator at the University of Pennsylvania. During his Ph.D. (2006-09) at BAST Lab, he worked on actuation and control of microfabricated structures using flagellated bacteria.
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Sam Sheckman M.S.

Mechanical Engineer

Sam Sheckman completed his M.S. degree at BAST Lab (2016-18). His research was focused on soft-microrobotics. Sam developed a method in the manufacturing of microassemblies via a control algorithm under global inputs for additive manufacturing at low Reynolds numbers. He was a recipient of NSF EAPSI Fellowship. Currently Sam is a mechanical engineer at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
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Sean E. Brigandi M.S.

Mechanical Engineer

Sean E. Brigandi worked on the characterization and control of artificial magnetotactic Tetrahymena pyriformis for his M.S. thesis at BAST Lab (2010-11). Currently he is a senior engineer at PECO.
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Jung Soo Lee

Biomedical Engineer

Dr. Jung Soo Lee worked on DNA analysis using 2-D h-BN solid-state nanopores (2016-2021). He received B.S. in Bioengineering from Yonsei University in 2013 and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Southern Methodist University in 2018. Currently he is a postdoctoral researcher at iNanoBio Inc.
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Louis W. Rogowski Ph.D.

Mechanical Engineer

Dr. Louis Rogowski is a staff scientist at ARA. During his M.S. (2016-18) and Ph.D. (2018-20) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Southern Methodist University, he investigated the propulsion of microparticles inside biological fluid mediums and developed new types of robotic microswimmers for in vivo applications.
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Xiao Zhang

Mechanical Engineer

Dr. Xiao Zhang worked on 3D and swarm control of magnetic microrobots with the development of magnetic tweezer system during his Ph.D. (2016-21). He received his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 2016 and his B.S. in Aircraft Design and Engineering from Northwestern Polytechnical University in 2014. Dr. Zhang is currently a senior system engineer at NYAB.
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Jugal Saharia

Mechanical Engineer

Dr. Jugal Saharia worked in the development of solid-state nanopores based single molecule biophysics, with special focus on protein studies during his PhD (2017-2022). He received his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Tezpur University in 2012 and his M.Tech in Mechanical Engineering (Thermal Sciences) from the University of Kerala in 2015. Dr. Saharia is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas, Permian Basin.
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Dr. Sung Jea Park

Mechanical Engineer

Dr. Sung Jea Park was a visiting scholar for his sabbatical research at BAST lab. He is currently an associate professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Korea University of Technology and Education. During his stay, he studied soft biomaterials for small-scale robotics.
psj7517@koreatech.ac.kr
Research Website

Anuruddha Bhattacharjee, Ph.D.

Mechanical Engineer

Dr. Anuruddha Bhattacharjee is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Bhattacharjee worked on investigating assembly/disassembly mechanisms of modular micro-robots and their application in small-scale manufacturing. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2017.
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