Ingrid Fritsch

My name is Ingrid Fritsch and I was born to German immigrant parents and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. My chemistry teacher at Skyline High School, Ms. Marilyn Kemp, got me excited about chemistry.  I then earned my B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Utah.  During this time I worked for a small company extracting hydrocarbons from native plants, like milkweed, well before biofuels became popular.  I also did a little computer programming to create a database to store the results.  I “got my feet wet” doing fundamental research in biochemistry and later in organic synthesis. 

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Afterwards, I earned my Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry under the direction of Professor Larry Faulkner at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign doing research in electrochemistry, specifically electron transfer and redox-polymer films at microfabricated arrays of electrodes. Then, I was a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the laboratory of Professor Mark S. Wrighton, where I learned how to modify surfaces with molecules and characterize them using sophisticated instrumentation.  My love of research and teaching led me to the University of Arkansas as a professor in chemistry.  The research in my laboratory involves the science and fundamental studies toward miniaturized chemical analysis on a chip. I am also involved in a startup company that licenses intellectual property derived from the research of the students who have worked in my laboratory, with the hope that it will enhance the economy of the state of Arkansas.

The Viral Science Lab project resulted from a collaboration of Mr. Vaden Spurlock, the middle school science teacher of The New School, TNS, (Fayetteville) and K.M. Isaac at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and myself in 2013, stimulated by addressing the “broader impacts” portion of a proposal to the National Science Foundation.  This project has involved 7th grade students at TNS, and undergraduate and graduate students in Dr. Isaac’s and my laboratories.  I’m frequently humbled by the creativity and enthusiasm of the Middle School kids and am optimistic that our planet will be in their good hands in the future. 

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Ben J. Jones

My name is Benjamin Jones and I was born and raised in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  I graduated from Fayetteville High School, and then received my B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Arkansas.  After my undergraduate degree I worked in nanomaterials synthesis and bio-conjugation for a few years in startup companies.  After getting some work experience, I decided to go back to school to work toward a PhD in chemistry.  My current research interests include electroanalytical chemistry focused on electrode surface functionalization for miniature biofuel cells.  Advancing the role of miniature biofuel cell technology in exciting applications is a goal that I work toward every day. 

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Mengjia Hu

My name is Mengjia Hu. I grew up in Hubei, P.R.China.  I was inspired by my father who is a chemist and became interested in science, especially chemistry and biology.  I received my B.S. degree in chemistry from Wuhan University and am now a PhD student at the University of Arkansas. I joined Dr. Ingrid Fritsch’s research group in 2010, and perform research in on electrochemical analysis methods involving redox cycling and application for detection of neurotransmitters. The ultimate goal of my PhD research is to fabricate a miniaturized detection device for in vivo detection of neurotransmitters using redox cycling.

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Foysal Z. Khan

My name is Foysal Zahid Khan. I am from Bangladesh- a Southern Asian country. I received my B.S. and MS in Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. While completing my M.S. degree, I was affiliated with a national research center (BCSIR) and performed research on phytochemical and biological activity of a pantropical herb named Abutilon hirtum (Lam.) Sweet. (Florida Keys). Though I did my research on pharmacology I always had an interest in electrochemistry due to having extensive undergraduate analytical chemistry coursework. So, I joined Dr. Ingrid Fritsch’s laboratory as a Ph.D. student and currently I am doing my research on modeling and experimental evaluation of redox-magnetohydrodynamic microfluidics.  My future endeavor will be successfully using redox-magnetohydrodynamics in the separation of biologically important mixtures.

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Adam Kreidermacher

My name is Adam Kreidermacher.  I am from Rollingstone, Minnesota. I received my B.A. in Chemistry in 2008 from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona Minnesota, 14 miles from Rollingstone. Then, I joined the University of Arkansas to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry.  My research is on controlling fluid flow on a small scale through magnetic fields and electrochemistry. I hope to to graduate in 2015.

 

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Christena Nash

My name is Christena Nash. I am from Arkansas.  I earned my B.S. degree at the University of Arkansas in chemistry in 2009 and then went back to earn a Masters of Art in Teaching of Secondary Education in 2010, with the expectation that I would teach high school science.  I finished my Ph.D. in 2014 doing research with the conducting polymer, poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene) (PEDOT), deposited onto microelectrodes to generate the electric field needed for magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) convection.   I’m excited to say that I pioneered a reimagined microfluidic technique coined “AC redox-MHD,” which involves the use of AC-magnetic fields and synchronized AC-electric fields generated by redox-modified electrodes for microfluidic pumping and mixing applications.  AC-redox MHD is an interference-free microfluidic technique capable of programmable, high velocity fluid flow for handheld devices for chemical analysis with the benefits of a flat flow profile and mixing for indefinite time scales. 

 

Vishal Sahore

My name is Vishal Sahore. I was born and raised in Una, Himachal Pradesh, India. I was always interested in applying scientific fundamentals to build new technologies, and with time that interest has evolved into developing cheap and affordable healthcare diagnostics tools. I received Bachelor of Science (B. Sc.) in Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics from Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, India. In 2007 I came to U.S. for higher studies. I received Master of Science (M.S.) in Physics from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in 2009. There I worked under the supervision of Dr. Valerica Raicu and developed a theoretical model to analyze the biological indicators of rat’s brain during anesthesia. I finished Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Microelectronics-Photonics from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in 2013. There I worked under the direction of Dr. Ingrid Fritsch and integrated the concepts of electrochemistry, micro-fabrication, and microfluidics to develop a new technology for healthcare diagnostics. Since 2014, I am working as a Post-Doctoral Researcher with Dr. Adam T. Woolley at Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. There, I am using state-of-the-art microfluidic technology to develop a clinical diagnostic tool for the assessment of pre-term birth risks.