Immunoengineering is an emerging discipline at the intersection of engineering and immunology. Immunoengineering applies engineering principles and methods to quantitatively study and manipulate the complex immune system.
It is becoming a powerful approach to understand, manipulate, stimulate, and eventually control immune molecules and cells to treat a broad range of health conditions, including cancer, infection, and autoimmunity. Immunoengineering not only drives innovation in immunological research, but also advances technological development in immunotherapies.
Recent developments in immunotherapy have shifted the paradigm for cancer treatment, and immunotherapy is considered the future of disease treatment. The minor in Systems Bioengineering will provide students with strong knowledge and applied skills in the use of quantitative methods for the analysis, manipulation, and computational modeling of complex biological systems, and will introduce them to some of the most important problems and applications in quantitative and systems biology.
The students will survey theoretical concepts and tools for analysis and modeling of biological systems like biomolecules, gene networks, single cells, and multicellular systems. Concepts from information theory, biochemical networks, control theory, and linear systems will be introduced. Mathematical modeling of biological interactions will be discussed and implemented in the laboratory. Quantitative experimental methods currently used in systems biology will be introduced.
These methods include single cell genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic analysis techniques, in vivo and in vitro quantitative analysis of cellular and molecular interactions, single molecule methods, live cell imaging, high throughput microfluidic analysis, and gene editing.
The plastic in molded bottles and food packaging. Synthetic rubber in tires. Scratch-resistant coatings that are chemically and thermally stable. Bulletproof materials in lightweight vests. Super-absorbent materials such as those in diapers.
Synthetic polymers are ubiquitous in the 21st century, with such engineered materials exhibiting unique properties and enabling novel applications relative to traditional materials.
The minor in Molecular Science and Engineering of Polymers and Soft Materials is designed to prepare students to enter diverse fields in the polymer and soft material sciences. A sophisticated understanding of the molecular-level interactions and structure is required to work with polymers and ultimately provides the opportunity to predict and control material behaviors at the macroscale.
Students in the minor will study the chemistry, physics, thermophysical properties, modeling, and processing of polymers, as well as other classes of soft materials including liquid crystals and colloids. Applications of polymers and soft matter in lightweight composites, smart or responsive materials, bioinspired and biomedical materials, advanced lithography, and energy-related materials will be examined.
Climate change and finite resources for an ever-growing global population mandate major initiatives on achieving a better and more sustainable future. Access to clean water and the development of sustainable energy technologies are at the heart of this global challenge. The minor in Molecular Engineering of Sustainable Energy and Water Resources is tailored for students interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the science, conservation, and management of energy and water resources.
Concepts of emphasis include fundamental electrochemistry, materials and devices for energy conversion and storage e. The minor in Computational Molecular Engineering will provide students with expertise in mathematics, numerical algorithms, computational methods, and molecular and multiscale modeling techniques.
The minor will introduce concepts from materials design, device design, and computational interpretation of experimental data, and provide training in tools for materials modeling ranging from electronic structure-level quantum mechanical calculations to molecular modeling methods at scales ranging from angstroms to meters.
Before a student can declare a minor in Molecular Engineering, the student must complete the general education requirements in mathematics, physical sciences, and biological sciences.
Following completion of these requirements, students must meet with the Director of Undergraduate Studies for Molecular Engineering, Mark Stoykovich stoykovich uchicago. A student must then receive approval of the minor program on a Consent to Complete a Minor Program form.
The signed form must then be returned to the student's College adviser by the end of the Spring Quarter of the student's third year. Deviations from the course plan agreed upon in the Consent to Complete a Minor Program form require the approval of Dr.
Stoykovich and submission of a revised Consent to Complete a Minor Program form prior to their implementation. For those students not majoring in Molecular Engineering or a related field, the College offers two additional minors in Molecular Engineering.
The minors complement various major programs and better prepare students for STEM fields, equipping each with basic engineering tools to discover new ways to think about cutting-edge technologies and problem solving. The minor in Molecular Engineering introduces the technical fundamentals of molecular engineering, including in quantum mechanics, molecular thermodynamics, transport phenomena, and the application of such concepts to advanced technologies.
Primarily targeted to students majoring in the physical or biological sciences, this minor provides a strong preparation for careers or postgraduate studies in engineering fields. Students must secure approval before enrolling in courses they wish to use as advanced electives in the minor program.
The minor in Molecular Engineering Technology and Innovation is intended for students majoring in economics, business, policy, or related fields, and presents basic engineering concepts as they relate to evolving technologies, scientific innovation and entrepreneurship, scientific policy, and the broader impacts of engineering in society. All courses in Molecular Engineering are pre-approved as advanced electives for the minor.
Students must secure approval before enrolling in courses that they wish to use as electives in the minor program and that are not on this pre-approved list. Courses in the minor program may not be 1 double counted with the student's major s or with other minors, or 2 counted toward general education requirements. Courses in the minor must be taken for quality grades, and more than half of the requirements for the minor must be met by registering for courses bearing University of Chicago course numbers.
MENG Introduction to Emerging Technologies. This course will examine five emerging technologies stem cells in regenerative medicine, quantum computing, water purification, new batteries, etc.
The first of the two weeks will present the basic science underlying the emerging technology; the second of the two weeks will discuss the hurdles that must be addressed successfully to convert a good scientific concept into a commercial product that addresses needs in the market place.
Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering. Synthesis, processing and characterization of new materials are the pervasive, fundamental necessities for molecular engineering. Understanding how to design and control the structure and properties of materials at the nanoscale is the essence of our research and education program. This course will provide an introduction to molecularly engineered materials and material systems.
The course starts with atomic-level descriptions and means of thinking about the structure of materials, and then builds towards understanding nano- and meso-scale materials architectures and their structure-dependent thermal, electrical, mechanical, and optical properties.
Strategies in materials processing heat treatment, diffusion, self-assembly to achieve desired structure will also be introduced. In the latter part of the course, applications of the major concepts of the course will be studied in quantum materials, electronic materials, energy-related materials, and biomaterials. Instructor s : Shuolong Yang Terms Offered: Winter Prerequisite s : Completion of the general education requirements in mathematics and physical or biological sciences.
Water is shockingly bizarre in its properties and of unsurpassed importance throughout human history, yet so mundane as to often be invisible in our daily lives. In this course, we will traverse diverse perspectives on water. The journey begins with an exploration of the mysteries of water's properties on the molecular level, zooming out through its central role at biological and geological scales.
Next, we travel through the history of human civilization, highlighting the fundamental part water has played throughout, including the complexities of water policy, privatization, and pricing in today's world. Attention then turns to technology and innovation, emphasizing the daunting challenges dictated by increasing water stress and a changing climate as well as the enticing opportunities to achieve a secure global water future.
Commercializing Products with Molecular Engineering. Many technologies and products that have been successfully commercialized benefit from engineering at the molecular scale. This course will present case studies of such technologies and products, including those drawn from the fields of pharmaceuticals e. The courses in Engineering Analysis provide a foundation for engineering problem solving and quantitative analysis.
Skills in developing mathematical models that describe biological, chemical, or physical systems will be acquired, including defining the system and system boundaries, simplifying complex systems through the application and justification of engineering assumptions, and implementing engineering data.
Applied mathematical and computational tools to solve such models will be introduced. Also emphasized will be the topics of dimensions and units, scaling analyses, and data representation and visualization.
Principles of Engineering Analysis I. The first quarter of Engineering Analysis introduces engineering students to the derivation and solution of balance equations for intensive properties such as mass, energy, momentum, and charge in a system. Students will develop algebraic, differential, and integral balances for continuous, transient and steady-state processes.
Energy balances in open and closed steady-state systems will be introduced, as will mechanical energy and momentum balances of importance in the flow of fluids in the derivation and application of Bernoulli's equation. Skills in basic structured programming and data visualization in Python will be acquired, and simple algorithm development will be emphasized for numerical methods such as root finding.
Principles of Engineering Analysis II. The second quarter of Engineering Analysis considers advanced energy balances for isothermal and adiabatic processes, systems with chemical reactions and phase changes, and systems under non-steady state conditions. In addition, the conservation of charge, Kirchhoff's current and voltage laws, and dynamic systems of charge and electrical energy will be discussed.
Throughout the course, students will learn advanced numerical and computational methods in Python for solving systems of linear and non-linear equations, general minimization techniques, optimization strategies, and regression analysis. Engineering Quantum Mechanics. Quantum mechanics is a fundamental physical theory describing the behavior of systems on small length scales, and underlies a variety of basic phenomena in physics, chemistry and biology. It also is the basis of some of the most revolutionary technologies of the 20th century e.
This course will provide students with a broad introduction to quantum mechanics, and will emphasize both a qualitative and quantitative appreciation of many of its main principles and its relevance to technology and engineering. Topics to be covered include the quantization of light and atomic orbitals, wavefunctions and probability amplitudes, the Schrodinger equation, and the basic quantum mechanics of atoms and molecules.
A basic introduction to quantum bits and quantum information technology will also be provided. Molecular Engineering Thermodynamics. Molecular thermodynamics integrates concepts from classical thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and chemical physics to describe the properties of matter and behavior of systems at equilibrium.
This course introduces thermodynamics for molecular engineers starting with the postulates of thermodynamics and the thermodynamic properties of pure substances. The concept of thermodynamic stability and the molecular origins of phase transitions will be developed to predict the phase diagrams of pure substances. Engineering applications relying on thermodynamic cycles involving flow or phase changes, including engines, heat pumps, and refrigeration, will be analyzed.
Finally, an introduction to statistical thermodynamics will be provided to establish the relationship between intermolecular forces and macroscopic properties through the definition of ensembles, probability distribution functions, and partition functions, as well as the consideration of fluctuations in thermodynamic variables. Molecular Engineering Transport Phenomena. This course introduces students to continuum mechanics, with a focus on energy and mass balances.
Starting with an overview of the physical and mathematical basis of diffusion, the course will cover definitions of flux of heat and mass, setting up differential equations and boundary conditions that describe mass and energy transport, scaling and nondimensional analysis, and solution methods for common types of problems including unsteady-state problems and systems with chemical reactions.
This course will address the physical principles that govern physiological and biological functions at the organ, tissue, and cellular levels through quantitative models. At the organ and tissue levels, topics will include the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems organ function, oxygen transport, hemorheology, interstitial and lymphatic transport , skeletal mechanics, and physiology of the kidney, intestine, and liver, as well as tumor physiology.
At the cellular level, topics of membrane transport, adhesion and migration mechanics; and cytokine and chemokine signaling will be addressed.
Cellular engineering is a field that studies cell and molecule structure-function relationships. It is the development and application of engineering approaches and technologies to biological molecules and cells. This course provides a bridge between engineers and biologists that quantitatively study cells and molecules and develop future clinical applications.
Quantitative Systems Biology. This course aims to provide students with knowledge on the use of modern methods for the analysis, manipulation, and modeling of complex biological systems, and to introduce them to some of the most important applications in quantitative and systems biology.
We will first survey theoretical concepts and tools for analysis and modeling of biological systems like biomolecules, gene networks, single cells, and multicellular systems. Mathematical modeling of biological interactions will be discussed. We will then survey quantitative experimental methods currently used in systems biology. Finally, we will focus on case studies where the quantitative systems approach made a significant difference in the understanding of fundamental phenomena like signaling, immunity, development, and diseases like infection, autoimmunity, and cancer.
This course focuses on the kinetics of biochemical reactions at the molecular level and addresses basic questions at the interface between molecular engineering and cell biology. This course will equip students with the knowledge and tools to quantitatively solve problems in biochemical systems and molecular reactions that are dynamic or at equilibrium.
In this course, students will gain an understanding of the science and application of biomaterials, a field that utilizes fundamental principles of materials science with cell biology for applications in therapeutics and diagnostics. The course will introduce the basic classes of biomaterials, considering metals used in medicine, ceramics and biological inorganic materials such as hydroxyapatite, and polymers used in medicine. The basis of protein adsorption modulating biological interactions with these materials will be elaborated.
Examples to be covered in the course will include polymers used in drug delivery, polymers used in protein therapeutics, polymers used in degradable biomaterial implants, polymers used in biodiagnostics, and hybrid and polymeric nanomaterials used as bioactives and bioactive carriers.
An emphasis in the course will be placed on bioactive materials development. Students will be assessed through in-class discussions, take-home assignments and exams, and an end-of-term project on a topic of the student's choice. In this course, students will gain an understanding of the science and application of tissue engineering, a field that seeks to develop technologies for restoring lost function in diseased or damaged tissues and organs.
The course will then discuss current approaches for engineering a variety of tissues, including bone and musculoskeletal tissues, vascular tissues, skin, nerve, and pancreas. The Structural Basis of Biomolecular Engineering. In this highly practical course, students will learn different approaches to interrogate the structure-function relationship of proteins.
Essential skills in identifying related protein sequences, performing multiple sequence alignments, and visualizing and interpreting conservation in the context of available structures will be acquired. The most basic method of biomolecular engineering is based on rationale design which uses such knowledge of sequence and structure to predict or explore changes in function in a low throughput manner.
Advanced methods that employ evolutionary platforms, such as phage-, ribosome-, and yeast display, will also be introduced for screening large libraries of biomolecules to find variants with a specific function of interest. Additional biomolecular engineering topics to be covered may include computational tools to model and design proteins, protein fusions, enzymatic or chemical modifications to change function, and pharmacokinetics.
Students will be assessed through in-class discussion, take-home assignments, exams, and an end-of-term project chosen by the student with approval from the instructor s.
Proteomics and Genomics in Biomolecular Engineering. Modern genomic and proteomic technologies are transforming the analysis and engineering of biological systems. One part of the course will introduce the molecular biology of genomics, including how and why next-generation sequencing is used to measure DNA, RNA, and epigenetic patterns.
In addition to experimental tools, it will cover key computational concepts for transforming raw genomic data into biologically meaningful data, as well as the application of those results to analyze biological systems. Specific topics will vary but will include single-cell RNA-sequencing and its analysis in different settings. The other part of the course will focus on technologies that enable the identification of proteins and their dysregulation in disease.
Examples include mass spectrometry techniques to determine the exact number of proteins in cells, as well as techniques that identify the types and locations of post-translational protein modifications, such as histone methylation, that are frequently associated with diseases such as cancer. Additionally, the course will review methods to discover protein-protein interactions using computational and experimental screening methods. Student assessments will be made through in-class discussion, take-home assignments, exams, and an end-of-term project chosen by the student with approval from the instructor s.
Biodiagnostics and Biosensors. This course focuses on the biological and chemical interactions that are important for the diagnosis of diseases and the design of new assays. The principles and mechanisms of molecular diagnostics and biosensors, as well as their applications in disease diagnosis, will be discussed. Bioanalytical methods including electrochemical, optical, chemical separation, and spectroscopic will be described.
Surface functionalization and biomolecular interactions will be presented for the development of protein and DNA based biosensor applications. This course focuses on the applications of nanotechnology in medicine. The chemical, physical and biological features of the nanomaterials will be discussed for applications in medicine. A survey of concepts in therapeutic drug delivery methods, diagnostic imaging agents and cell-materials interactions will be discussed.
Principles of Immunology. In this course students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the essential principles of immunology. The course will introduce the concept of innate immunity and pattern recognition and how antigen is processed for presentation to the immune system.
We will examine how antigen presentation links innate and adaptive immunity. We will then discuss the two arms of adaptive immunity humoral and cellular in detail from their development to effector stages.
Students will present primary articles related to the topics discussed in class in a weekly discussion section. The course will be graded on class participation, quizzes, a midterm, and a final essay-based exam. Fundamentals and Applications of the Human Microbiota. Thousands of microbes colonize the human body to collectively establish the human microbiota. With biomolecular engineering continually entering into new fields, the need for workers in this field will continue to grow.
Lindsey's writing experience spans a variety of business-related industries, including real estate, personal finance, marketing and community organizations. Earning a business minor gave her a love for all things business-related, from the marketing to the accounting, an interest that shows through her work. What Does a Biomolecular Engineer Do? By Lindsey Thompson Updated August 28, Related Articles. Karen Australian.
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