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Speakers

Introduction

Lance Collins, Joseph Silbert Dean, College of Engineering

Collins joined Cornell in 2002, following 11 years as assistant professor, associate professor and professor of chemical engineering at Pennsylvania State University. Since 1999, he has also held a joint appointment in the mechanical and nuclear engineering department at Penn State, and in 1998 he was a visiting scientist at the Laboratoire de Combustion et Systemes Reactifs (a National Center for Scientific Research laboratory in Orleans, France) and at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He was director of graduate studies for aerospace engineering at Cornell 2003-05, and has served on Cornell's Strategic Plan Advisory Council. Collins' research combines simulation and theory to study a variety of turbulent flow processes. His work on mechanisms of droplet breakup in turbulence was recognized with the 1997 Best Paper Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. In 2007, he was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society. He earned his B.S.E. in 1981 at Princeton University and his M.S. in 1983 and his Ph.D. in 1987 at the University of Pennsylvania, all in chemical engineering.

 

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Todd Zion ‘97: "SmartInsulin for Treating Diabetes"

Todd C. Zion, Ph.D. founded SmartCells, Inc. (Beverly, MA) in 2003 to develop SmartInsulin™, the first glucose-regulated, injectable formulation for treating diabetes.  As President and CEO since the company’s founding, Todd was instrumental in raising over $9.5M in equity financing from individual investors and over $10M in government grants to support basic research and clinical development.  In December 2010, Merck and Co. acquired SmartCells for over $500M in cash and clinical milestone payments.

Dr. Zion developed the SmartInsulin™ technology as part of his doctoral thesis work in Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  At M.I.T., Todd won the Robert P. Goldberg Grand Prize in the 2003 M.I.T. $50K Entrepreneurship competition.  Prior to enrolling at M.I.T., he worked as a polymer development engineer at Eastman Kodak, where he invented and was issued several patents for the novel synthesis of polymer particles for imaging applications.  Todd graduated from Cornell University summa cum laude with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering.

 

Professor Chris Schaffer:"Your Brain on Alzheimer's Disease: The Potential Role of Slowed Blood Flow"

Prof. Chris Schaffer is a faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and his Ph.D. from Harvard University, both in Physics. He completed post-doctoral training at the University of California, San Diego before joining the faculty at Cornell in 2006. His research centers on the development of optical tools for manipulation and quantitative imaging of biological cells in the brain of live mice and the use of these tools to study the role of damage to small blood vessels in neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease. Chris is an active outdoor enthusiast, having surfed 25 foot waves in Mexico and Hawaii, climbed 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado, and competed in 100 mile bike rides in upstate New York.

 

Professor Bill Olbricht:"Drug Delivery to Treat Cancer"

Prof. William Olbricht has been a faculty member in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell for 31 years.  His research focuses on applying fluid dynamics to problems of biological and physiological importance, especially innovative treatments for neurological disorders.  He has also been a member of the Department of Biomedical Engineering since its founding.  He has served as department chair for chemical engineering and interim chair for biomedical engineering.  He has developed seven new courses at Cornell for undergraduate and graduate students, and he is a three-time recipient of College of Engineering excellence in teaching awards.