Narayan Aluru will use nanofluidics and multiscale methods to assess chemically decorated nanopores for use in devices.
Hagan Bayley's contributions focus on the development of molecular engineering of channels, sensors and transporters.
C. Jeffrey Brinker will synthesize, pattern and modify nanoporous silica membranes prepared by EISA to be used as supports for lipid bilayers/transmembrane proteins that maintain fluid, water-rich biotic/abiotic interfaces, serve as reservoirs for ions, and provide long-term membrane bilayer stabilities. Brinker Nanostructures Research Group.
Scott Feller will use atomic-level models to study lipid bilayer membranes and to enhance undergraduate teaching.
Millie Firestone will explore synthetic membranes that may be better suited for use in device design.
Mark Humayun is a bioengineer and surgeon who will interact with us continually as we develop the technical capability to design and fabricate the first biobattery.
Eric Jakobsson is the Center Director. His work is on computational studies of membrane biophysics and organization, ion channel function, and ion channel evolution.
Gerhard Klimeck focuses on the network for computational nanotechnology, center of excellence in computational nanoscience, NASA/Purdue/Indiana Partnership for Nanoelectronics Request for a 21st Century R&T, and atomistic modeling of nanoelectronic transport.
David A. LaVan will work on the development and characterization of new materials and devices and provides overall design oversight for biobattery design for our Center.
Kevin Leung works in computational molecular physics. His skills and insights are critical to the development of the proton hopping modeling and simulations.
Michael McLennan is currently developing the Rappture toolkit, which automates the process of creating graphical user interfaces for scientific applications. McLennan's work is critical to realizing our Center's goal of disseminating our algorithms, code, and software to the entire nanoscience community.
Atul N. Parikh, will collaborate on the design of microarrays of synthetic silica nanopores, the optical characterization of single molecule transport and with Prof. Hagan Bayley for incorporating alpha-hemolysin based engineered nanopores in membrane patterns. Parikh Group.
Steve Plimpton will develop an integrated modeling platform for three-dimensional reaction-diffusion processes.
Umberto Ravaioli work will form a linkage between the modeling at the level of stochastic dynamics between the semiconductor engineering approaches and the computational chemistry approaches to understanding permeation.
Susan Rempe is using ab initio approaches to modeling techniques that span multiple time and length scales and couple with expertise in statistical methods for computing thermodynamic driving forces to achieve accurate predictions of structure-function relationships in biological and synthetic ion transporters.
Benoit Roux focuses on fundamental issues about ion permeation and the understanding of channel function using a combination of computational (molecular dynamics, free energy simulations, umbrella sampling, Poisson-Boltzmann calculations, ab initio calculations) and experimental approaches (bilayer experiments, x-ray crystallography). His lab will address specific issues concerning ion stability, ion-ion interactions, and selectivity present in narrow pores.
Marco Saraniti has developed innovative algorithms both for the dynamics of charged particles in in-homogeneous systems and the accurate and efficient modeling of the electrostatic interactions within those systems. He will focus mainly on the development of methodology for the particle-based simulation of membrane proteins in ionic solutions and on the design of hybrid bio-electronic sensors that exploit the functionality of biological ion channels.
H. Larry Scott work in using atomically detailed molecular dynamics simulations to provide the numerical foundation for statistical mechanics descriptions of domain formation in membranes is unique. This work is essential to understanding the detailed bases of lipid structure in and around nanopores.
Xinguang Zhu's research focuses on mathematical modeling of cellular metabolism with emphasis on one of the most important biophysical and biochemical process, photosynthesis and exploring ways to improving photosynthetic efficiency. He brings expertise in systems modeling.