Leadership Team

President: Mark Riley, University of Arizona

Mark Riley, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Bio5 Institute at The University of Arizona where he has been for the past 11 years. His education includes a B.S. in chemical engineering from The University of Michigan and an M.S. and Ph.D. in chemical and biochemical engineering from Rutgers University. Mark’s research focuses on the development of sensing technologies to monitor biochemical processes including cellular response to viral attack and cellular activities in the production of bioplastics and renewable biofuels. He has also developed a fruit ripeness detection system called the RediRipeTM device used to quantify release of ethylene from maturing fruits. For this work, he was awarded the first Arizona Innovation Award presented by Governor Janet Napolitano in 2007. Mark was the founding Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Biological Engineering, launched in 2007.

President-elect: William Batchelor, Mississippi State University

Bill Batchelor is head of the agricultural and biological engineering department at Mississippi State University. Batchelor led the development of the Sustainable Energy Research Center at Mississippi State University in 2005, of which he is currently director. He led numerous faculty members in creating a proposal that received $26 million in funding grants from the U.S. Department of Energy. The center is currently conducting research on several sources of renewable transportation fuels, including bio-crude, bio-oil, and syngas, that do not compete with existing crops (ie, corn and soybeans) needed for the global food supply. Batchelor also serves as director of the Energy Institute at Mississippi State, which has approximately 200 researchers in several centers and departments.

Immediate Past President: Christina Smolke, California Institute of Technology

Christina holds a faculty position within the Chemical Engineering Department at Caltech. Her research program at Caltech focus on developing platform technologies for the construction of nucleic acid-based sensors and switches and examining the application of these engineered molecules in areas such as programmed cellular behavior, 'intelligent' therapeutics, metabolic engineering, and nanosensor devices.

Secretary: Sabrina Jedlicka, Lehigh University

Sabrina joins the Executive Council as Secretary after chairing the Student Poster Competition at the 2008 and 2009 conferences. She is relatively new to IBE, but believes in the mission and is excited to be part of the continued growth of the organization. Sabrina was a 2008 addition to the Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA) Department of Materials Science and Engineering, where she is also a member of the new, rapidly expanding Bioengineering Program. Her research interests revolve around nanotechnology in medicine, specifically in the area of tissue regeneration.

Treasurer: Charles Kinoshita, University of Hawaii Manoa

Charles Kinoshita is the lead administrator for instruction at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii Manoa and previously served as Professor and Chair of the Molecular Biosciences & Bioengineering Department, UHM, as Director, Marine Bioproducts Engineering Center, UHM, as Researcher for the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, UHM and also Head of the Engineering Department for the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Experiment Station.

Patrick Cirino, Pennsylvania State University

Melanie Correll, University of Florida

Majed Dweik, Lincoln University

Drew Endy, Stanford University & the BioBricks Foundation

Sandun Fernando, Texas A&M University

Natalie Kuldell, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Liju Yang, North Carolina Central University

Jeong-Yeol Yoon, University of Arizona

Guigen Zhang, Clemson University

Kirsten Sims, Utah State University

Sara Laskey, Massachusetts Institute of Technology