We are pleased to welcome Ellis Meng (Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering, Vice Dean for Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky Chair in Convergent Biosciences at the University of Southern California) for an ME seminar on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 4 pm PT.

The seminar is both in-person and offered on Zoom: washington.zoom.us…

Seminar title: Polymer-based Microfabricated Implants for Neural Applications

About the talk: 

The Biomedical Microsystems Laboratory at the University of Southern California focuses on developing novel translational microtechnologies and microdevices for biomedical applications, in particular medical implants. Often the last line of defense for combating a wide range of challenging medical conditions, implants help extend and improve the quality of life for many. The lab specializes in microelectromechanical systems technology and medical polymer micromachining to develop a range of polymer-based implantable biomedical microdevices from neural interfaces to microsensor systems for monitoring function of passive medical implants. Microelectrode array technologies can be adapted to interface with different parts of the nervous system, whether lying on the surface or placed into tissues. While traditionally constructed from rigid materials, emerging polymer technologies compatible with microfabrication offer interfaces possessing greater mechanical flexibility and material transparency which may alleviate chronic tissue damage, prolong function, and provide compatibility with optical and magnetic imaging. In addition, the design space enables a variety of form-factors and anatomical targets, including surface, shallow and deep-brain structures, retina, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. The Polymer Implantable Electrode (PIE) Foundry is a new resource concept that provides rapid access to custom or generic microelectrode arrays to the research community and borrows from pathways for project space sharing from the integrated circuit manufacturing industry. We will also explore an extension of this underlying technology in the application of electrochemical sensors for monitoring physiological fluid flow with application to hydrocephalus.

Ellis Meng is the Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky Chair of Convergent Biosciences and Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California where she has been since 2004. She is also the Vice Dean of Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She received the B.S. degree in engineering and applied science and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1997, 1998, and 2003, respectively. Her research interests include biomedical microelectromechanical systems (bioMEMS), implantable biomedical microdevices, microfluidics, integrated microsystems, microsensors and actuators, biocompatible polymer microfabrication, and packaging. Her honors include the NSF CAREER award, Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Early Career Award, 2009 TR35 Young Innovator Under 35, Viterbi Early Career Chair, ASEE Curtis W. McGraw Research Award, 2018 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Technical Achievement Award, and 2019 IEEE Sensors Council Technical Achievement Award. She is a fellow of NAI, IEEE, ASME, BMES, and AIMBE. She is the VP of Technical Activities for the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. She is on the editorial board of the Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems and Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering. She is also an inventor, co-founder of two companies based on her research, and author of a textbook on bioMEMS.