Principal Investigator 

Ke Du, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
ke.du@ucr.edu
Chemical and Environmental Engineering
​Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering 
University of California, Riverside 
350B Bourns Hall of Engineering, Riverside, CA 92521
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Bio: Professor Du is currently a tenure-track assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering at the University of California, Riverside and leads the Nanobiosensing, Nanomanufacturing, and Nanomaterials (3N) Lab. Before joining UCR in 2022, he was an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Du conducted postdoctoral training at the University of California, Berkeley with Rich A. Mathies and obtained his Ph.D. degree from Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ). 
His group has published papers in journals such as ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Advanced Materials Technologies, Advanced Materials Interfaces, Advanced Functional Materials, ACS Infectious Diseases, ACS Omega, ACS Sensors, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Electrophoresis, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Langmuir, Lab on a Chip, Nanotechnology, Optics Express, and Scientific Reports and has been widely covered by popular media including Science Daily, Yahoo Finance, The Science Times, and EurekAlert.
​Du has been recognized as one of the twenty five global rising stars in sensing by ACS Sensors, a special issue celebrating early stage investigators. He has also been the recipient of the NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (2021), the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) Collaborative Travel Grant (2019), the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Student Fellowship (2012), James H. Potter Award (2014), and Stevens Innovation & Entrepreneur (IE) Fellowship (2009–2014). He was the only recipient worldwide of the 2017 Biosensors Travel Award and one of only two recipients worldwide of the 2017 Micromachines Travel Award.
Du’s research is supported by NIH, NSF, USDA, DOE, The UNYTE Translational Research Network, and industry partners such as Mammoth Biosciences, L3Harris, Colgate Palmolive, and Biological Mimetics. 
​​​Postdoctoral Scholar 
​Can Wang
canw@ucr.edu 
​Chemical and Environmental Engineering 
​Marlan and Bourns College of Engineering 
University of California, Riverside 
359B Bourns Hall of Engineering 
Bio: Can earn her Ph.D. in Environmental Health from China Medical University in China in 2019. After completing her Ph.D., she joined the Department of Toxicology at Sun Yat-sen University as a postdoctoral researcher, where she focused on environmental pollutant risks on mouse and zebrafish. In 2022, she joined the Center of Craniofacial Molecular Biology at the University of Southern California as a visiting scholar, where she focused on gene-environment interactions and molecular biology. Currently, she is focused on optogenetics in mouse models and investigating the environmental risks associated with nanoparticles using algae models.

Ph.D. Candidate

Xinye Chen
Ph.D. student 
xinyec@ucr.edu
Chemical and Environmental Engineering
​University of California, Riverside 
359B Bourns Hall of Engineering 
Bio: Xinye obtained his B.S. degree in 2012 from the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Xiamen University and his M.S. degree in 2014 from the Electrical Engineering at RIT. He is currently a fourth-year student in the Microsystems Engineering Ph.D Program under the guidance of Dr. Ke Du. His current research focuses on the separation and detection of gram negative bacteria using a micro-and nanofluidic system. In his free time, he likes playing basketball and training his golden retriever.

Ph.D. Candidate

​Mengdi Bao
Ph.D. student 
mbao003@ucr.edu
Chemical and Environmental Engineering
​UC-Riverside 
359B Bourns Hall of Engineering 
Bio: Mengdi received her B.S. degree from Southern Medical University, China in 2015 and completed her M.S. degree in 2017 with Prof. Kazunori Hoshino at the University of Connecticut. After that, she joined Prof. Hailong Yao’s group at Tsinghua University as a research assistant, developing microdevices and immunoassays. She also worked as a R&D engineer in Berry Genomics Company, focusing on the identification of hydroxymethylcytosine modifications in cell-free DNA. At UCR, Mengdi's research focuses on the CRISPR based nanosensors. 
Ph.D. Candidate
​Yu Chang
Ph.D. student  
yuc@ucr.edu
Chemical and Environmental Engineering 
UC-Riverside
359B Bourns Hall of Engineering 
Bio: Yu obtained his B.S. degree from the National Chiao Tung University and his M.S. degree from National Taiwan University. Before coming to RIT, Yu was an etch engineering in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited. His current research is focused on developing a fully enclosed waveguide platform by using high resolution 3-D printing. 
Ph.D. Candidate
Li Liu
Ph.D. student 
​lil@ucr.edu
Chemical and Environmental Engineering 
UC-Riverside 
359B Bourns Hall of Engineering 
Bio: Li received her B.S. degree from the Dalian University of Technology, majoring thermal energy and power engineering. She then came to the United States and obtained her M.S. degree from the mechanical engineering department at the Binghamton University. She is a third-year Ph.D. student in the microsystems engineering program. She is working on an integrated photonic chip for COVID detection. In her free time, Li likes playing snowboard and piano, hiking, and cooking at home. 
​​Ph.D. Student
Ruonan Peng
Ph.D. student ​
rpeng014@ucr.edu
​Chemical and Environmental Engineering
​Marlan and Bourns College of Engineering 
​UC-Riverside
359B Bourns Hall of Engineering 
Bio: Ruonan completed her B.S. degree and M.S. degree from Wuhan Institute of Technology and the University of Manchester, respectively. Prior to UCR, she worked for Ferring Pharmaceuticals in Beijing, China. Her research at UCR will focus on novel biochemistry assay for the detection of sepsis. 
​​​Ph.D. Student
​Jacob Waitkus
Ph.D. student ​
jwait004@ucr.edu
​Chemical and Environmental Engineering 
Marlan and Bourns College of Engineering
UC-Riverside 
359B Bourns Hall of Engineering 
Bio: Jacob is a 1st-year Ph.D. student at UCR. His research is focused on localized surface plasmonic sensors for biomarkers detection. In his free time, he enjoys rock climbing and fishing. 
M.S. Student ​​
Henry Yuqing
Undergraduate student 
h010@rit.edu
Mechanical Engineering Technology
Kate Gleason College of Engineering 
Rochester Institute of Technology
76 Lomb Memorial Dr. Rochester, NY 14623
Bio: Henry is a M.S. researcher in mechanical engineering technology. His project is using bottom-up approach to grow nanowires for antimicrobial applications. He previously worked with RIT Simone Center and a start-up company called "Intelleplant". Henry likes running, 3-D printing, and playing basketball. 
M.S. Student 
​​Jiacheng He
M.S. student 
jh3160@rit.edu
Mechanical Engineering
​Kate Gleason College of Engineering
Rochester Institute of Technology
76 Lomb Memorial Dr, Rochester, NY 14623
Bio: Jiacheng He is currently a first-year undergraduate student at RIT. He is pursuing his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering under the advising of Dr. Ke Du.

M.S. Student

Michael Just
M.S. Student
michael.just@email.ucr.edu
Bioengineering
UC-Riverside
359B Bourns Hall of Engineering 
Bio: I am an undergraduate student in the bioengineering department finishing up my senior year, then I will be starting my Masters's in the Fall 2023. My project in Dr. Du's Lab examines how Nanoplastics interact with red blood cells. 

REU Student

Krystelle Borja
NSF REU Student
kborj010@ucr.edu 
Chemical and Environmental Engineering 
​UC-Riverside 
​
Bio: Krystelle Borja is an undergraduate sophomore studying Chemical Engineering. With a background in rocket propulsion and experience in data analysis for the US Navy, Krystelle has developed an interest in exploring new technologies and collaborating on innovative projects. In 3N lab, Krystelle will work as an NSF REU student for the synthesis of fluorescent labeled nanoplastics. In her free time, she enjoys spending time in nature and reading. Krystelle's goals are to earn her bachelor's degree and continue on to a graduate program in a related field.

REU Student

Jana Hajj-Shehadeh
NSF REU Student
jhajj002@ucr.edu
Chemical and Environmental Engineering
​UC-Riverside 
Bio: Jana is currently an undergraduate student at the University of California, Riverside currently obtaining her B.S/M.S degree in Chemical Engineering and is part of the class of 2024. In addition to being a part of Dr. Ke Du's  3N Lab, Jana is in University Honors and is currently working on completing her Honors Thesis under the guidance of Dr. Du. After completing her degrees, she plans on attending medical school to become an Obstetrician-Gynecologist (OBGYN). 

Undergraduate Student

Zhixuan "Kevin" Tao
Undergraduate Researcher
zhixuan.tao@email.ucr.edu
Chemical and Environmental Engineering
UC-Riverside
Bio: I am currently a third-year chemical engineering student at UCR. My research in 3N lab is focused on nanoparticle separation with microfluidics. In my spare time, I like to play video games and basketball.

Undergraduate Student

Jorge-Lomeli-Prieto
Undergraduate Researcher
jlome012@ucr.edu
Chemical and Environmental Engineering
UC-Riverside 
Bio: My name is Jorge Lomeli, I am currently a 3rd-year Chemical Engineering undergraduate student at The University of California Riverside. In 3N lab, my research is focused on nano-sieve device fabrication. After receiving my bachelor's degree I plan on attending graduate school and obtaining a Phd. The end goal for my career is to work in the petroleum or nanotechnology industry.

Alumni

Ananth Rajaram Pai, currently an engineer at Unichem Pharmaceuticals USA;

Kenny Hass (MS student), currently an engineer in Invenergy; 2021 RIT Best Thesis Award!

Dr. Qian He, currently a research engineer at Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute;

​David Saxum (senior design student), currently a research scientist at HRL Labs;

Alex Jiang (undergraduate student), now at Georgia Tech;

Grant Korensky, now at Optimax System Inc. 

Justin Silva (MS student), now a manufacturing engineer at Blue Origin;

Chad ten Pas (MS student);

Samantha Chan (co-op researcher);

Wimeth Dissanayake (high school student), now an undergraduate student at the University of Rochester;

​Hashir Awan (co-op researcher);

​Xiong-Wen Ke (visiting student)