Abshire Earns NSF Award for Work on Cell-Based Sensing

Assistant Professor Pamela Abshire (ECE/ISR) earned a National Science Foundation (NSF) award for her work as principal investigator for research on “Integrated Transduction, Actuation, and Control for Cell-Based Sensing.” The NSF award also recognized co-principal investigators Assistant Professor Benjamin Shapiro (AE/ISR) and Associate Professor Elisabeth Smela (ME).

The researchers’ goal is to develop and demonstrate enabling technology for cell-based sensing. Cell-based sensing has the potential for selectivity, sensitivity, and speed that far exceed today's chemical and biological sensors.

Problems relating to olfactory sensing and pathogen detection are of immediate relevance to current national security issues. This technology has clear applications in other diverse fields such as health care, pharmaceutical development, and environmental monitoring.

The researchers' integrated transduction-actuation-control approach also could have an impact on labs-on-a-chip, microfluidics, and nanotechnology by developing basic technology and techniques for sophisticated manipulation of particles at the micro-scale.

Published April 4, 2005