Science & Tech
Missouri S&T biochemical engineer patents low-cost method of removing bacterial toxins from fluids
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By some estimates, 18 million people die each year from sepsis triggered by endotoxins – fragments of the outer membranes of bacteria. A biochemical engineer at Missouri S&T has patented a method of removing these harmful elements from water and also from pharmaceutical formulations. Her goal: improve drug safety and increase access to clean drinking water in the developing world.
The technique, as outlined in a July 2016 article in the journal Nanotechnology, involves a one-step phase separation method, using a syringe pump, to synthesize the nanoparticles. Those polymer nanoparticles have a high endotoxin removal efficiency of nearly 1 million endotoxin units per milliliter of water, using only a few micrograms of the material.
Researchers mimic Legos for molecular building blocks, earn $411,000 NSF grant
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Scientists at Missouri S&T are drawing inspiration from toy building blocks to create fixed molecular units used to accelerate the material discovery process known as rational design. They’ll use these “molecular blocks” to discover highly ionic conductive materials that could be used to make today’s much sought after all-solid-state lithium batteries.
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Not always bad—MXenes’ spontaneous oxidation harnessed to create 2-D nanocomposites
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Researchers at Missouri S&T have discovered a new way to harness the potential of a type of spontaneously oxidized MXene thin films, to create nanocomposites that could sense both light and the environment. Previously, such spontaneous oxidation was considered detrimental because it degrades the MXene structure. The research is published in the June 2018 issue of ACS Nano, one of Google Scholar’s top-rated, peer-reviewed scientific journals.
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Rock-and-roll grandpa earns doctoral degree for research on using desert shrub as asphalt recycling agent
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He’s driven the backroads with some of the biggest names in rock and roll, from Def Leppard and KISS to John Denver and the Eurythmics, hauling both gear and performers as a truck- and bus-driving roadie. Yet despite his many brushes with fame, what gets Mike Lusher most excited these days is his research into an unassuming desert shrub that some predict will revolutionize the rubber industry. A fascination with the guayule (why-YOO-lee) plant that began a dozen years ago while watching an episode of The History Channel show “Modern Marvels” has culminated in a Ph.D. in civil engineering for the 64-year-old grandfather, who received his diploma at May 12 commencement.
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College of Engineering and Computing honors 18 graduate students
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The College of Engineering and Computing at Missouri S&T is honoring 18 graduate students in recognition of their scholarly productivity and teaching excellence. Eight doctoral students representing six academic departments have been named CEC Dean’s Ph.D. Scholars at Missouri S&T, while another 10 doctoral students affiliated with seven departments have been designated as inaugural Dean’s Graduate Educators. Each student was recognized and honored at an end-of-semester campus reception on Thursday, May 10.
Read More »Missouri S&T professor receives manufacturing research medal
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Dr. Ming Leu, the Keith and Pat Bailey Missouri Professor of Integrated Product Manufacturing at Missouri S&T, is being honored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for his role in advancing manufacturing research. The professional society has named Leu, who also directs the Intelligent Systems Center at S&T, the winner of its 2018 Milton C. Shaw Manufacturing Research Medal. The award recognizes significant fundamental contributions to the science and technology of manufacturing processes.
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Missouri S&T doctoral student works to improve drug safety, efficacy with new chiral templates
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In the early 1960s, the Thalidomide drug scare caused thousands of worldwide infant deaths and birth defects from a morning sickness medicine for expectant mothers. The disaster transformed drug regulation systems, and changed the pharmaceutical industry’s understanding of chiral properties: the notion that molecules with otherwise identical properties are in fact mirror images, like your right and left hands. Missouri S&T materials science and engineering doctoral student Meagan Kelso wasn’t even close to being born when the chiral consequences of Thalidomide first became apparent nearly 60 years ago. But the drug industry’s continued efforts to fine-tune how it first identifies and then separates chiral compounds is driving the native Texan’s Ph.D. research.
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S&T research centers co-present first biomedical humanities symposium
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Seeking to stimulate collaboration between faculty and students in STEM fields with those in the social and behavioral sciences and humanities, two research centers at Missouri University of Science and Technology have joined forces to offer the university’s first biomedical humanities symposium.
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Nanodiamond research shines brightly on S&T chemistry student’s success
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With an enthusiasm for chemistry that’s hard to miss, and scientific achievements that defy her age, Cholaphan Deeleepojananan, a senior in chemistry at Missouri University of Science and Technology, chose her path while in high school in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.
Read More »Researchers discover new accuracies in cancer-fighting, nano drug delivery
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A promising discovery for advanced cancer therapy reveals that the efficiency of drug delivery in DNA nanostructures depends on their shapes, say researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology and the University of Kansas in a scientific paper published today (March 21, 2018).
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