IEEE WIE SPECIAL SESSION CO-SPONSORED BY IEEE COMSOC

Speaker 1: At the intersection of microbiology and computer science: Computational microbiology
Session Chair: TBD
Time: Wednesday, September 23 - 13:00-14:00
	Lourdes Peña-Castillo Professor Departments of Computer Science and Biology (jointly-appointed) Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Bacteria are everywhere and are involved in the survival and/or functioning of most living beings. In my lab, we study bacteria and their molecules using machine learning/artificial intelligence to understand how bacteria regulate their genes and interact with their environment and with other organisms. In this talk, I will highlight recent projects from my lab emphasizing their interdisciplinarity.

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Speaker 2: From Biological Building Blocks to Molecular Communication: A Bioprocess Engineer’s Perspective
Session Chair: TBD
Time: Wednesday, September 23 - 13:00-14:00
	Kathrin Castiglione Professor Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Head of Institute of Bioprocess Engineering Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen–Nuremberg Erlangen, Germany

Molecular communication explores how information can be encoded, transmitted, and detected using molecules. Realizing such communication systems, however, requires more than understanding the communication principles. It requires the ability to design, produce, control, and characterize their biological components.

In this talk, I will present a bioprocess engineering perspective on molecular communication, focusing on our work with proteins, experimental testbeds, and nano-scale polymer vesicles as components of communication systems. I will discuss how biological building blocks can be engineered and integrated to enable molecular information transfer, and how experimental systems help us understand the opportunities and challenges of communicating at the molecular level. I will conclude with a perspective on emerging directions in the field and the interdisciplinary opportunities it offers at the interface of biotechnology, bioprocess engineering, and nanotechnology.

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Speaker 3: From Nanomaterials to Intelligent Systems: Engineering Materials for Sensing, Communication, and Healthcare
Session Chair: TBD
Time: Wednesday, September 23 - 13:00-14:00
	Cansu Canbek Assistant Professor Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Yeditepe University Ataşehir - İstanbul, Turkey

Advances in nanotechnology increasingly require us to look beyond individual materials and consider how nanoscale properties can be translated into functional systems that interact with their environment. In our research, we explore this transition from nanomaterials to responsive and connected systems by combining materials science, nanotechnology, sensing, modeling, and communication engineering.

This talk will provide an overview of our interdisciplinary research on functional nanomaterials and smart soft materials. Examples will include plasmonic and magnetoplasmonic nanoparticles for optical and biomedical applications, stimuli-responsive and conductive hydrogels for sensing and monitoring, and nanomaterial-based approaches for environmental and healthcare applications. Particular emphasis will be placed on how the chemical, mechanical, optical, dielectric, and electrical properties of these materials can be engineered to produce measurable responses to changes in their surroundings.

I will also discuss our efforts to move beyond conventional material characterization toward systems in which materials are integral to the sensing and communication process, including microfluidic platforms, wireless sensing concepts, and molecular communication. Together, these studies illustrate how interdisciplinary research can connect fundamental materials science with emerging technologies for healthcare, environmental monitoring, and intelligent sensing.

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