Congratulations to Alison, Benjamin, Emma, and Sean for being awarded undergraduate research fellowships (URF). We are excited to see your progress and look forward to the awesome work you guys do in Lipke Lab!
Alt Text: A group of students stand together in front of a red brick building. Alison stands on the far left and Emma and Sean stand on the far right.
Lipke Lab had a blast at the 2024 Auburn Research Symposium (March 26, 2024). Two oral and two poster presentations were presented.
Benjamin Gusekaran, poster: Scalable Production of Microfluidic Devices for Hydrogel Microsphere Production
Kwaghtaver Desongu, oral: 3D In Vitro Model of Colorectal Cancer in Insulin-Sensitive and Insulin-Resistant Microenvironments
Mohammad Hashemi, oral: Enhancing Engineered Cardiac Tissue Maturity for Studying Diabetic Cardiomyopathy
Alt Text: Mohammad Hashemi stands at a podium positioned in front of a tv which shows his title slide.
Alt Text: Kwaghtaver Desongu stands at a podium positioned in front of a tv which shows his title slide.
Congratulations to Alison and Emma on winning at the AIChE Southern Regional Conference! Alison won 1st Place in the Student Poster Competition and Emma Kim won 1st Place in the Technical Presentation Competition and qualified for the national presentation competition that will be held in San Diego, CA later this year. We are proud of you guys, congratulations!
Alt Text: Emma (left) and Alison (right) stand outdoors next to railing.
Alison, Benjamin, and Emma presented at the 2024 annual AIChE Southern Student Regional Conference hosted at Auburn University on March 15th-16th, 2024. Their presentations were fantastic and we are excited for these undergrads in our lab!
Benjamin, poster: “Scalable Production of Microfluidic Devices for Hydrogel Microsphere Production”
Anaiah Jones researched in here Lipke Lab this summer of 2023 under Shireen Singh working on the cardiac team. She helped Shireen with experiments and performed image analysis to help Shireen better understand cardiac differentiation. She also participated in summer REU meetings with the college and also helped us out with outreach activities including the 2023 Biomanufacturing Workshop held at Alabama State University.
She gave her final presentation titled, “Biomimetic Materials An Innovative Approach Towards the Development of Cardiac Regeneration.” We celebrated her by visiting a local ice cream shop in downtown Auburn. We had such a great summer with you Anaiah!
Alt Text: Anaiah stands in front of a scientific poster. She poster is navy and white with various images, graphs, and other data.
Members of Lipke Lab (Mohammad, Shireen, Kwaghtaver, Nipa, and Anaiah) and the Selen Cremaschi Research Group (Dr. Cremaschi, Shenba, and Erfan) lead a day-long workshop to summer REU students at Alabama State University with Dr. Komal Vig covering topics including biomanufacturing of engineered tissues, machine learning for use in decision making processes, and scale up of heart tissue production using machine learning. The workshop composed of interactive presentations and hands-on demonstrations including machine learning demonstrations, cell encapsulations, hydrogel production, and pig heart demonstrations. The event was held on June 30th, 2023.
Alt Text: Shireen, Mohammad, Anaiah, Dr. Vig, and summer REU students gather around a large wooden conference table during a cookie activity for biomanufacturing.
Alt Text: Mohammad and Shireen pose in a lab holding pig hearts.
Dr. Lipke took five summer researchers to Hannover, Germany to perform research in the Leibniz Laboratories for Biotechnology and Artificial Organs (LEBAO). Students had the opportunity to work in research labs, including labs from Dr. Robert Zweigerdt, Dr. Ina Gruh, Dr. Ruth Olmer, Dr. Nico Lachmann, and Dr. Stefan Kalies. This program provided students with the opportunity to conduct research at the interface of clinical application and biomanufacturing, advancing their knowledge of German culture, and becoming aware of scientific education and carrier opportunities in regenerative medicine on a trans-institutional and trans-Atlantic level. Students arrived in Germany at the end of May 2023, and returned to the US at the end of July 2023.
This collaborative initiative was made possible by competitive International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) grant funding acquired from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and is focused on process development for cell and tissue manufacturing.
To read more about this opportunity, visit this link.
Alt Text: From left to right, Jada Neal, undergraduate student at Auburn Univeristy (AU), Jasmine Brown, undergraduate student at Georgia Tech, Fawaz , graduate student at MHH LEBAO, Justin Harvell, graduate student at AU, Dr. Elizabeth Lipke, faculty at AU, Stephen Wheat, undergraduate student at Louisiana State Univeristy, Shifaa Abdin, graduate student at MHH NIFE, Liam Wilson, graduate student at MHH LEBAO, Rajesh Vivekanandan, graduate student at MHH LEBAO, Dr. Robert Zweigerdt, head of research group at MHH LEBAO, Aileen Schmidt, graduate student at MHH LEBAO, Dr. Ruth Olmer, head of research group at MHH LEBAO, Carlos Bautista, graduate student at MHH LEBAO, Ellie Hall, undergraduate student at Mississippi State, and Mirela Wilkening, an assistant at MHH LEBAO. The group are standing in front of a gray and red building sign in Hannover, Germany.
Justin Harvell and Grace Hester competed in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineerings 2023 AUSome Science in 60 Seconds competition and both won respective graduate and undergraduate overall winners.
The competition challenged students to present their work in one minute to a general audience, similar to a one minute TikTok video. The Lipke Lab came in first place for both undergraduates and graduate students. The winners were announced at the Council of Engineering Graduate Students’ awards banquet on April 27, 2023.
A link to the winning videos can be found here.
Alt text: From left to right, Dr. Michael Greene, associate professor of nutritional sciences, Grace Hester, Dr. Elizabeth Lipke, Mary and John H. Sanders Professor in chemical engineering, and Justin Harvell stand in front of a Council of Engineering Graduate Students navy backdrop. Grace and Justin hold large signed golden checks for their award.
Peter was named the 2023 Outstanding Undergraduate Student in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Peter was recognized at the College of Engineering’s awards ceremony, congratulations Peter!
Peter, an undergraduate in Lipke Lab, was awarded an NSF-GRFP. This is a prestigious award and is greatly deserved; Peter will be attending graduate school for a PhD after he graduates this year. Congratulations Peter!