Description:

Babatunde A. Ogunnaike
William L. Friend Chaired Professor of Chemical Engineering;
Dean, College of Engineering
University of Delaware

BIOLOGICAL CONTROL SYSTEMS
Systems Biology of Diseases and the Design of Effective Treatments
The mammalian organism maintains stable, efficient and “near-optimal” performance and homeostasis in the face of external and internal perturbations via distinct biological systems ranging from the large-scale physiological (nervous, endocrine, immune, circulatory, respiratory, etc.), to the cellular (growth and proliferation regulation, DNA damage repair, etc.), and the sub-cellular (gene expression, protein synthesis, metabolite regulation, etc). “Biological Control Systems,” a sub-topic of Control Theory, arises from a control engineering perspective of the function, organization, and coordination of these multi-scale biological systems and the control mechanisms that enable them to carry out their functions effectively.
In this presentation, we will provide an overview of how physiological life is made possible by control, and demonstrate the usefulness of a control engineering perspective of pathologies for diagnosis, design, and implementation of effective treatments. The concepts and principles will be illustrated using three specific examples with significant research and clinical implications: Ca++ Regulation (see Fig 1); TGF-β and prostate cancer; and Platelet Count Control.

Biography
The Ogunnaike group is interested in understanding the dynamic behavior of complex systems through mathematical modeling and analysis, and then exploiting this understanding for postulating novel designs and improved operation. Specific systems of interest range from polymer reactors, particulate processes and extruders, to biological processes at the cellular and physiological levels. Specific research topics include modeling and control of industrial processes (polymer reactors, extruders, distillation columns); the application of process analytical technology for control of pharmaceutical processes; modeling and control of hybrid renewable energy systems; biological control systems; and systems biology with application to neuronal responses and cancer.

Dr Ogunnaike is the author or co-author of more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, and four books including a widely used textbook, Process Dynamics, Modeling and Control, published in 1994 by Oxford University Press, and Random Phenomena: Fundamentals of Probability and Statistics for Engineers, published in 2009 by CRC Press. He is an Associate Editor of the journal Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research. His awards include the American Institute of Chemical Engineers 1998 CAST Computing Practice Award, the 2004 University of Delaware’s College of Engineering Excellence in Teaching award, the 2007 ISA Eckman Award, and the 2008 AACC Control Engineering Practice award. He was named a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) in 2009, and elected a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering in 2012, of the US National Academy of Inventors in 2014. He is a 2016 fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a 2017 fellow of International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC). He was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2012.

Description:

Kimberly Lounds Foster, Corporate Vice President of Global Commercial Supply and is leading an integrated plan, make, source and deliver operations functions for all of Celgene’s commercial therapies.

Within Global Supply are supply chain planning & logistics, internal / external manufacturing, CAR-T SC, Manufacturing Science & Technology along with Operations, Process and Analytics functions.

Prior to Celgene, Kimberly held the position of Head of Global Supply Chain for Novartis’ Cell & Gene Therapy unit. In this role, she was responsible for building out the commercial and clinical autologous supply chain across thirteen countries for CTL019. Kimberly spent over six years at Sandoz where she built the External Supplier Operations function for the North America & LatAm markets following a ‘virtual plant’ model and managed Sandoz US supply chain for in-line products, new product launches and US distribution centers.

Prior to Sandoz, Kimberly held various roles with expanded responsibilities at Catalent Pharma Solutions, Baxter Healthcare, Accenture and Merck. Kimberly’s diverse experience includes business development, mergers & acquisitions, management consulting, strategic planning, process engineering and operational excellence.

Kimberly holds an M.B.A from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University.
Kimberly is married and lives in Morris Plains, NJ.

Description:

Title: Screening and developing solid sorbents for post-combustion CO2 capture- A Process perspective

Abstract: There has been an explosive growth in the development of tailor-made adsorbents for various separations of commercial interest. Very often, the goal is to develop new materials have better metrics (e.g., selectivity, capacity) compared to previous ones. Improving these properties is assumed to result in better processes. In this talk we put these assumption to test by taking post-combustion CO2 capture through vacuum swing adsorption as a case study. The first part of the talk will deal with the development of detailed process models that are amenable to large-scale process optimization and their validation using pilot-plant results. In the second part of the talk, we explore how these models can be used for effective screening of adsorbents. We start by asking whether some of the commonly used metrics for adsorbent development do predict process performance. We perform this through detailed process design and optimization that allows us to define explicit operational (e.g, pressure levels) and process constraints (e.g., purity/recovery) and evaluate an adsorbent’s potential based on economic indicators such as energy consumption and productivity. This approach provides increased confidence in adsorbent screening and highlights some significant shortcomings of screening adsorbents based on simple metrics. Based on these results, we develop simple graphical tools that have improved prediction capabilities for screening adsorbents for post-combustion CO2 capture. Some of the insights that we have gained (confirmed by other research groups, including those at Northwestern) provide a very different perspective of adsorbent development for CO2 capture.

Arvind Rajendran is a Professor of Chemical Engineering and associate chair (undergraduate studies) in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta. Prior to his current position, he was an associate professor at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Arvind completed his Ph.D. in 2004 with Prof. Marco Mazzotti from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland. His research work has resulted in over 55 peer-reviewed publications including 4 invited review/opinion articles. He serves as an assocaite editor for the Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering and as an Area Editor( Adsorption Processes) for Adsorption-The journal of the international adsorption society. His research interests include, fundamentals of chromatography, supercritical fluid chromatography, and gas separation by adsorption processes. In the recent years, his group has been focussed on CO2 capture. He currently serves as director of the International Adsorption Society and is the technical chair of the Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference, 2017.

Description:

Speaker
Tae Seok Moon

Title
Systems and synthetic biology: constructing programmable cells

Abstract
The past decade has witnessed the tremendous power of systems and synthetic biology in the creation of genetic parts, devices, and systems, which helps understand complex biological systems. However, its potential for real-world applications has not been fully exploited. One of its promising applications is the construction of programmable cells that are able to integrate multiple environmental signals and to implement synthetic control over biological processes. My research interests are focused on developing microbes that are able to process multiple input signals and to generate user-defined outputs. Specifically, I aim to build genetic programs in order to control various bacterial processes such as gene expression, chemical reactions, and evolution. I will present examples of my research projects to discuss the potential and challenges of systems and synthetic biology for practical applications.

Bio
Tae Seok Moon (Assistant Professor, Washington University in St. Louis) has 20 years of research experience in chemistry, metabolic engineering, systems biology, and synthetic biology, including 5.5 years of industry experience. During his career in the biotechnology industry, his chemical derivatization technology led to synthesis of novel biopolymers and four patent applications. As a manager of a multi-team project, he coordinated pre-clinical studies and helped to launch four products, including biopolymers for osteoarthritis treatment and ophthalmic surgery, injectable fillers for wrinkle correction, and biodegradable materials for drug delivery. For commercialization, he also participated in bioprocess scale-up, construction and operation of commercial-scale bioreactors and downstream facilities, and submission of a Drug Master File to the US FDA. During his academic training at MIT and UCSF, he has built up expertise in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. His research focus at Washington University (2012-17) is understanding of gene regulation, evolution, and metabolism, as well as design and construction of synthetic RNA regulators, environmental sensors, and complex genetic circuits. His projects include engineering probiotic bacteria for programmed parasite killing (Gates Foundation) or neurotransmitter control (ONR); understanding biological robustness by building genetic sensors and complex circuits from the bottom-up (NSF); determining the design principles to establish nitrogen fixing ability in an oxygenic photosynthetic organism by using transcriptomics and refactoring approaches (NSF); systems engineering of Rhodococcus opacus to enable production of fuels and chemicals from lignocellulose (DOE); and establishing a generalizable model for predictable RNA regulator design (NSF). Several awards include an NSF CAREER award, an ONR Young Investigator Award, a John C. Sluder Fellowship (MIT), an ILJU Foundation Award, an LG Chemical Fellowship, and the SNU President Prize.

Description:

Weekly talks given by guests or students of the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department. 

9AM Tech M345 (Refreshments served at 8:45)