Speaker: Shan Jiang, Assistant Professor with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University
Title: Assemble Hard Matter with Soft Matter – From Gene Delivery to Additive Manufacturing
Abstract: Jiang will discuss the recent efforts in his lab to develop functional materials based on new synthesis and self-assembly methods. They have been working on multiple areas, including gene delivery to plant cells, biobased nanocomposite functional coatings, and additive manufacturing. One common theme of these research topics is the design of assembly structures utilizing both hard matter and soft matter. They have discovered reagents that can assist the biolistic delivery and help deliver genes and proteins more efficiently to plant cells. In addition, they have shown nanoparticles can bring new functionality to biobased polymers and significantly improve their performance. Furthermore, the fundamental interactions and mechanisms of assembly have been probed using various analytical tools. These new technologies offer platforms to build next generation of smart materials that can be broadly applied in areas including agronomy, coating materials, biomedical application, and additive manufacturing.
Bio: Dr. Shan Jiang is an Assistant Professor in the Materials Science and Engineering department at Iowa State University. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, working with Professor Steve Granick on Janus particles. After graduation, he furthered his study at MIT Langer lab as a postdoc on gene delivery. He then worked at the Dow Chemical Company Coating Materials as a project leader and helped develop different products. Dr. Jiang has published more than 50 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters and 3 U.S. patents. His work at Iowa State has been featured on several journal covers. Dr. Jiang was awarded with the Racheff-Intel Award for Outstanding Graduate Research. The technology he participated in developing at Dow received the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award and the R&D 100 Award. He has received the ACS Younger Chemists Committee Leadership Development Award, Early Achievement in Teaching Award, Miller Faculty Fellowship, Education Leadership Award, Dean’s Excellence in Learning and Teaching Grant and the 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award. His lab has received funding support from NSF, USDA, NASA, ACS-PRF, Presidential Interdisciplinary Research Seed Fund and Regents Innovation Fund.
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/meeting/93961122193