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Georg Seelig wins DARPA Young Faculty Award to develop point of care diagnostic test for infectious diseases

December 22, 2012

Georg Seelig, assistant professor of EE & CSE, has received the 2012 DARPA Young Faculty Award from the Department of Defense. The DARPA Young Faculty Award program identifies and engages rising research stars in junior faculty positions at U.S. academic institutions and exposes them to Department of Defense needs as well as DARPA's program development [...]

Energy Dept. funds UW project to turn wasted natural gas into diesel

December 17, 2012

The U.S. Department of Energy this month awarded $4 million to a team, led by UW chemical engineers, that aims to develop bacteria to turn the methane in natural gas into diesel fuel for transportation. [...]

David Castner Elected to AIMBE College of Fellows

December 13, 2012

Congratulations to MolES faculty David Castner (Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering) who has been selected as a member of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), a non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to improving lives through medical and biological engineering. Castner joins a distinguished group of 1,000 other fellows from academia, industry and government who have [...]

Rules devised for building ideal protein molecules from scratch

November 30, 2012

By Leila Gray, UW Health Sciences/UW MedicineNovember 29, 2012 By following certain rules, scientists can prepare architectural plans for building ideal protein molecules not found in the real world. Based on these computer renditions, previously non-existent proteins can be produced from scratch in the lab. The principles to make this happen appear this month in [...]

Electrically spun fabric offers dual defense against pregnancy, HIV

November 30, 2012

Electrically spun cloth with nanometer-sized fibers show promise as a cheap, versatile platform to simultaneously offer contraception and prevent HIV. New funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will help MolES faculty member Kim Woodrow further test the system's versatility and feasibility. [...]

David Ginger named AAAS fellow for photovoltaics research

November 29, 2012

Congratulations to MolES faculty David Ginger, who was named fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for 2012. Ginger was honored for advances in the physical chemistry of nanoscale materials relevant to optoelectronics, particularly photovoltaics, and innovation in surface microscopy techniques for probing such materials. [...]

MolES researchers highlighted in UW 360 feature on targeted drug delivery

November 20, 2012

Molecular Engineering & Sciences faculty Suzie Pun (Bioengineering) and David Baker (Biochemistry) were highlighted in the latest UW 360 feature on targeted drug delivery. Watch the UW360 feature on Targeted Drug Delivery [...]

UW College of Engineering's fall lecture series will focus on molecular engineering

October 11, 2012

The series of evening lectures, which are open to the public, kicks off next Tuesday (Oct. 16) in 120 Kane Hall with Launching the Molecular Engineering Revolution. Matthew O'Donnell, dean of the UW's College of Engineering, will describe how molecular engineering is poised to spark a new digital revolution, with implications for biotech, clean energy and other fields. O'Donnell will also discuss the role of the UW's newly established Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute. [...]

Sticky paper offers cheap, easy solution for paper-based diagnostics

October 2, 2012

Global health researchers, including MolES faculty member Dan Ratner, are working on cheap systems like a home-based pregnancy test that might work for malaria, diabetes or other diseases. A new chemical technique makes medically interesting molecules stick to regular paper "” a possible route to building such paper-based diagnostics from paper you could buy at an office-supply store. [...]

New documentary details the rise of molecular engineering

September 29, 2012

In this documentary, you'll see how the new molecular engineering & sciences building at the University of Washington will bring together a collection of people "” world class talent in energy delivery and medicine to work together to address some of today's biggest challenges. [...]

MolES researchers dig for energy solutions through NSF SEP grant

September 15, 2012

A diverse group of UW collaborators seeking to determine whether solar cells from earth-abundant elements can be a sustainable, environmentally low-impact, and profitable form of electricity production were awarded an Sustainable Energy Pathways grant from the National Science Foundation this fall. Led by Rehnberg Chair Professor Hugh Hillhouse the team, which includes Christine Luscombe (MolES/Materials Science & Engineering), Daniel Gamelin (MolES/Chemistry), Alison Cullen (Evans School of Public Affairs), and Xiaodong Xu (Materials Science & Engineering), will explore the use of nanocrystal and molecular inks to develop low-cost, high-efficiency solar cells with a benign environmental impact. [...]

UW celebrates opening of new Molecular Engineering & Sciences Building

September 12, 2012

After five years in the planning and construction, the University of Washington this fall opens its new Molecular Engineering & Sciences Building, one of the first facilities in the country dedicated to an emerging area of research. "We are thrilled to make the UW and Pacific Northwest region a leader in molecular engineering and science," [...]

UW science building uses new goo to help stay cool

September 6, 2012

By Jon SilverSeptember 6, 2012 The 90,000-square-foot space includes research labs, faculty offices and common areas.Filling your walls with goo may seem like a strange way to cut energy costs, but that’s exactly what the University of Washington did with its new Molecular Engineering and Sciences Building. The $77 million, five-story building opened over the [...]

Seattle Times: UW’s brave (and bright!) new lab for molecular engineering

September 5, 2012

UW’s brave (and bright!) new lab for molecular engineering A new, $77 million molecular engineering building at the University of Washington is the centerpiece of a new institute that is working to find new ways to cure diseases and create renewable energy. By Katherine Long, Seattle Times higher education reporter As a building, the University [...]

A new home for collaboration: the Molecular Engineering Building prepares to open its doors

June 22, 2012

Featuring four floors of lab and office space specifically tailored for research needs, the new Molecular Engineering and Sciences building ended up expanding considerably on the original plans for reconstruction. The building, home to the UW Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute (MolES), will open its doors June 25. The UW initially issued a bond to [...]

Phase change materials result in cost savings

January 18, 2012

A building material that absorbs heat during the day and releases it at night promises to save building owners a bundle of cash when it’s time to pay the monthly electricity bill. They're called phase-change materials, or PCMs, and scientists have been experimenting with them for decades. Although there have been some efforts to introduce [...]

New Scientist: Buildings and clothes could melt to save energy

January 5, 2012

Phase-change materials that freeze at around room temperature could revolutionize energy storage, cooling things that are too hot and warming them later on. [...]

Molecular Engineering and Science Institute to address energy and medicine

October 19, 2011

What if doctors had tools to pinpoint the location of disease inside the body’s cells? What if window panes captured solar energy that could be used to power homes? Molecular engineering, sometimes called molecular manufacturing or molecular systems, is very small-scale construction made possible by advances in chemical synthesis that allows for this new class [...]

Overney named associate director of education for new Institute of Molecular Engineering

October 1, 2011

Professor of Chemical Engineering RenÃ© Overney has been named the Associate Director for Molecular Engineering (MolE) Education for the new Molecular Engineering Institute. Integral in bringing MolE to the University, Overney took the lead in developing the Chemical Engineering Nanoscience and Molecular Engineering Option, a multidisciplinary undergraduate program with MolE-tailored lecture and laboratory courses. As [...]

UW breaks ground on nation’s largest molecular engineering building

October 9, 2009

ZGF Architects Architects’ rendition of the east face of the molecular engineering building. Meany Hall is visible on the right and Johnson Hall is reflected in the face of the new building. University of Washington leaders today officially broke ground on a molecular engineering building. “It’s incredibly exciting to see the building become a reality,” [...]