Five-day tour of the pharmaceutical industry in Puerto Rico by group of 24 Georgia Tech students

During spring break 2008, 24 undergraduate and graduate students visited pharmaceutical manufacturing plants in Puerto Rico as part of a course offered by the Georgia Tech Center for Drug Design, Development and Delivery. Students heard lectures and toured the facilities of Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer, and Wyeth. They learned about and saw the production of drugs, including diabetes medications (Januvia), birth control patches (EVRA), slow-release cardiovascular pills (Procardia XL), biotechnology proteins (Neupogen) and veterinary medicine (Heartgard).

This trip was the second in what promises to be an annual event. Participating students were from the Schools of Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, and Chemistry & Biochemistry. The trip was led by professors Mark Prausnitz and Andreas Bommarius, organized by graduate students Charlene Rincon and Eduardo Vazquez, and sponsored by the Center for Drug Design, Development and Delivery.

For more information, please contact Mark Prausnitz (prausnitz@gatech.edu) or Andreas Bommarius (andreas.bommarius@chbe.gatech.edu)

Deborah Nash Willingham, IE 78, has made a seven-figure commitment to support health and cancer research in the School of Biology at Georgia Tech.

A retired senior vice president with Microsoft Corp., Willinghamis a longtime resident of Seattle and a passionate supporter of health care, the arts and social services for the needy. She said her first preference is to support ovarian cancer research, which is one of the deadliest forms of the disease.

John Mc-Donald, chair of the biology school, is co-director of the Ovarian Cancer Institute with Benedict B. Benigno, an Atlanta gynecologic oncologist with the Southeastern Gynecologic Oncology Group.

"I have been so impressed with the people working in the Ovarian Cancer Institute," Willingham said. "Their optimism in potentially finding a definitive blood test for ovarian cancer is contagious.

"The death rate in ovarian cancer is higher than many other cancers because it is so often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. The work they are doing could save many lives and I want to help ensure they have the equipment, facilities and staff to work as fast as possible toward that goal."

Ovarian cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to diagnose. About 75 percent of ovarian cancers are detected at stages III and IV, when it has spread.

"The important issue for me is continuing to make progress with gene mapping and similar efforts so that research can be even more individually focused, not just on large classes like gender and race, but on sets of individuals with certain genes that can mark the mas needing preventative treatments," said Willlingham, a member of the Georgia Tech Foundation board of trustees and a former chair of the Georgia Tech Advisory Board.

She also is a member of a family with a Tech tradition that includes her father, the late Harold R. Nash Sr., EE 52; brothers H. Ronald Nash Jr., IE 70, and Michael R. Nash, IE 74, and his wife, Ellen Evatt Nash, Text 73; a niece, Jennifer E. Nash, Arch 02; nephew, David R. Nash, a 2003 graduate with degrees in mechanical engineering as well as international affairs and modern languages; and brother-in-law Arthur C. Ivey, CE 81, married to her sister, Mary.

"When you have someone with the distinguished corporate and philanthropic background of Deborah Willingham make such a substantial investment in a research program, you know the work you're doing has real value," McDonald said. "The real beneficiaries are the countless women whose lives will be saved as a result."

Deborah Nash Willingham, IE 78, has made a seven-figure commitment to support health and cancer research in the School of Biology at Georgia Tech.

A retired senior vice president with Microsoft Corp., Willinghamis a longtime resident of Seattle and a passionate supporter of health care, the arts and social services for the needy. She said her first preference is to support ovarian cancer research, which is one of the deadliest forms of the disease.

John Mc-Donald, chair of the biology school, is co-director of the Ovarian Cancer Institute with Benedict B. Benigno, an Atlanta gynecologic oncologist with the Southeastern Gynecologic Oncology Group.

"I have been so impressed with the people working in the Ovarian Cancer Institute," Willingham said. "Their optimism in potentially finding a definitive blood test for ovarian cancer is contagious.

"The death rate in ovarian cancer is higher than many other cancers because it is so often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. The work they are doing could save many lives and I want to help ensure they have the equipment, facilities and staff to work as fast as possible toward that goal."

Ovarian cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to diagnose. About 75 percent of ovarian cancers are detected at stages III and IV, when it has spread.

"The important issue for me is continuing to make progress with gene mapping and similar efforts so that research can be even more individually focused, not just on large classes like gender and race, but on sets of individuals with certain genes that can mark the mas needing preventative treatments," said Willlingham, a member of the Georgia Tech Foundation board of trustees and a former chair of the Georgia Tech Advisory Board.

She also is a member of a family with a Tech tradition that includes her father, the late Harold R. Nash Sr., EE 52; brothers H. Ronald Nash Jr., IE 70, and Michael R. Nash, IE 74, and his wife, Ellen Evatt Nash, Text 73; a niece, Jennifer E. Nash, Arch 02; nephew, David R. Nash, a 2003 graduate with degrees in mechanical engineering as well as international affairs and modern languages; and brother-in-law Arthur C. Ivey, CE 81, married to her sister, Mary.

"When you have someone with the distinguished corporate and philanthropic background of Deborah Willingham make such a substantial investment in a research program, you know the work you're doing has real value," McDonald said. "The real beneficiaries are the countless women whose lives will be saved as a result."

Nabil Wilf has won the 2007 Gates-Cambridge scholarship (one of 40 U.S. winners). He will pursue a Ph.D. in Genetics at Cambridge. Nabil graduated from Tech in Spring 2006 with majors in both Applied Biology and International Affairs; he is currently on a Fulbright scholarship in Kuwait. Nabil is the 4th Georgia Tech student to win the Gates-Cambridge.

Nabil Wilf has won the 2007 Gates-Cambridge scholarship (one of 40 U.S. winners). He will pursue a Ph.D. in Genetics at Cambridge. Nabil graduated from Tech in Spring 2006 with majors in both Applied Biology and International Affairs; he is currently on a Fulbright scholarship in Kuwait. Nabil is the 4th Georgia Tech student to win the Gates-Cambridge.

Ecology and Evolution Group Ranked in Top Ten by Chronicle of Higher Education

The Chronicle of Higher Education has ranked the School of Biology's Ecology and Evolution group among the top 10 in the country for 2005-2006, joining such programs as Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Cornell and Duke. The new ranking is controversial, and is based on average output per faculty member rather than absolute output per department. Follow a link to the rankings here.

Ecology and Evolution Group Ranked in Top Ten by Chronicle of Higher Education

The Chronicle of Higher Education has ranked the School of Biology's Ecology and Evolution group among the top 10 in the country for 2005-2006, joining such programs as Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Cornell and Duke. The new ranking is controversial, and is based on average output per faculty member rather than absolute output per department. Follow a link to the rankings here.

By Neil B. McGahee

Anything we can do, Mother Nature seems to have done it first - and better. That's why researchers from Georgia Tech's Center for Biologically Inspired Design are turning to the natural world for solutions to real-world problems.

"Natural systems must cope with environmental changes and innovations to survive," Jeannette Yen, CBID director and professor of biology, says. "Biologically inspired design or biomimetics allow us to take ideas from nature and incorporate them in modern technologies such as engineering, design and logistics."

The concept of biomimetics is very old - Leonardo da Vinci observed birds when building his unsuccessful flying machine in 1496 - but has gathered momentum recently due to advances in technologies.

"Perhaps the best known result of biologically inspired design is the development of Velcro," Yen says. "In the 1940s, a Swiss scientist was removing burrs from his dog when he realized how the hooks of the burrs clung to the fur." The discovery inspired him to create the unique two-sided fastener.

Yen and biology associate professor Marc Weissburg, co-director of CBID, had known each other for years through their mutual interest in marine biology. Weissburg was researching marine animals' ability to use their sense of smell to find food or a mate while Yen was studying plankton's ability to find a mate through similar olfactory location.

"Our research naturally lends itself to working with engineers," Weissburg says. "That's why we're at Tech. I came here because I knew that engineers could help me understand biology in a better way. There's not enough time in my life for me to learn as much about fluid dynamics as they do or for them to learn as much about biology as I do. Given the natural connections, we decided to develop a center that would promote collaborations between engineers and biologists."

Weissburg, an associate biology professor, and Don Webster, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, are studying marine animals to understand how they use chemical signals to track objects - information that may be used to make robotic sensor systems for underwater vehicle navigation.

Mechanical engineering professors Minami Yoda, a fluid dynamicist, and Peter H. Rogers, an acoustician, are researching the auditory retina, a concept based on motion sensors found in a fish's ear. Industrial and systems engineering professor Craig Tovey studied honeybees to find effective Web-hosting methods.

Materials science and engineering professor Ken Sandhage and biochemistry professor Nils Kroger are studying diatoms to discover processes for building nanostructures. Polymer, textile and fiber engineering professor Mohan Srinivasarao studied the morpho and discovered the brilliant blue butterfly produced its shimmering shades of blue and green not with pigments but by light reflection.

Hang Lu, an assistant professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, believes a worm may provide clues into the way memories are formed and retained in the human brain.

Biomimetics proponents say that recent discoveries are just the tip of an iceberg of knowledge to be gleaned from nature.

"We have always looked at the Earth as an infinite resource where we take and discard, suffering huge losses of energy, whereas natural organisms coordinate input and output to create complete ecological functions," Weissburg says. "Organisms are a big book of design solutions."

©2007 Georgia Tech Alumni Association

By Neil B. McGahee

Anything we can do, Mother Nature seems to have done it first - and better. That's why researchers from Georgia Tech's Center for Biologically Inspired Design are turning to the natural world for solutions to real-world problems.

"Natural systems must cope with environmental changes and innovations to survive," Jeannette Yen, CBID director and professor of biology, says. "Biologically inspired design or biomimetics allow us to take ideas from nature and incorporate them in modern technologies such as engineering, design and logistics."

The concept of biomimetics is very old - Leonardo da Vinci observed birds when building his unsuccessful flying machine in 1496 - but has gathered momentum recently due to advances in technologies.

"Perhaps the best known result of biologically inspired design is the development of Velcro," Yen says. "In the 1940s, a Swiss scientist was removing burrs from his dog when he realized how the hooks of the burrs clung to the fur." The discovery inspired him to create the unique two-sided fastener.

Yen and biology associate professor Marc Weissburg, co-director of CBID, had known each other for years through their mutual interest in marine biology. Weissburg was researching marine animals' ability to use their sense of smell to find food or a mate while Yen was studying plankton's ability to find a mate through similar olfactory location.

"Our research naturally lends itself to working with engineers," Weissburg says. "That's why we're at Tech. I came here because I knew that engineers could help me understand biology in a better way. There's not enough time in my life for me to learn as much about fluid dynamics as they do or for them to learn as much about biology as I do. Given the natural connections, we decided to develop a center that would promote collaborations between engineers and biologists."

Weissburg, an associate biology professor, and Don Webster, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, are studying marine animals to understand how they use chemical signals to track objects - information that may be used to make robotic sensor systems for underwater vehicle navigation.

Mechanical engineering professors Minami Yoda, a fluid dynamicist, and Peter H. Rogers, an acoustician, are researching the auditory retina, a concept based on motion sensors found in a fish's ear. Industrial and systems engineering professor Craig Tovey studied honeybees to find effective Web-hosting methods.

Materials science and engineering professor Ken Sandhage and biochemistry professor Nils Kroger are studying diatoms to discover processes for building nanostructures. Polymer, textile and fiber engineering professor Mohan Srinivasarao studied the morpho and discovered the brilliant blue butterfly produced its shimmering shades of blue and green not with pigments but by light reflection.

Hang Lu, an assistant professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, believes a worm may provide clues into the way memories are formed and retained in the human brain.

Biomimetics proponents say that recent discoveries are just the tip of an iceberg of knowledge to be gleaned from nature.

"We have always looked at the Earth as an infinite resource where we take and discard, suffering huge losses of energy, whereas natural organisms coordinate input and output to create complete ecological functions," Weissburg says. "Organisms are a big book of design solutions."

©2007 Georgia Tech Alumni Association

The first International Symposium for Biologically-inspired Design and Engineering at Georgia Tech will be held Wed.- Fri., May 10-12, 2006 in the Georgia Tech Global Learning and Conference Center. Pre-registration is required. The symposium is free to all Georgia Tech students, faculty, and staff. Fees for non-GT attendees are $100 for students & postdocs, $200 for faculty, and $250 for all others. To register for the symposium, submit an abstract, or for more information, please refer to the symposium website.

Guiding Philosophy and Goals
Biologically-inspired design focuses on the use of biological processes, organisms and systems as potential sources of innovation solutions for vexing technological or engineering problems. The goal of biologically-inspired design is to understand biological systems in such a way that permits the transference of biological principles to human-built systems. Biological systems are often more efficient than their human engineered analogs, and emphasize materials or processes that participate in natural cycles, which minimize environmental burdens often associated with human manufacturing. The bio-inspired design approach is typified by the recent understanding of physical principles underlying the ability of reptiles and insects to adhere (even upside down) onto surfaces, and the application of these principles to novel, non-toxic and non-pressure based adhesive materials. Thus, biologically-inspired design is an approach clearly distinguishable from domesticating or harvesting natural products. It is contingent on appropriate biological knowledge and appropriate transfer of knowledge to industrial or engineering sectors, and thus depends heavily on inter-disciplinary collaborations between the biological, engineering and the industrial communities. Such collaborations are often fortuitous in spite of the potential benefits. Our goal is to facilitate the collaboration between biological scientists and engineers to encourage innovative solutions that will increase the, efficiency, practicality, and sustainability of human solutions.