Saif presented Beckman lecture on miniature neuro-machinery

HMNTL faculty member Taher Saif was the featured presenter at this week’s Frontiers in Miniature Brain Machinery lecture series at the Beckman Institute.

Saif, a MechSe Professor, spoke Wednesday, October 21 via Zoom on “Miniature neuro-machinery with large potentials.” The lecture was open to the public. Saif is also a neuroscience professor and a core faculty in Beckman’s Miniature Brain Machinery Program (MBM).

Saif’s expertise lies in the mechanics of living cells (biomechanics) and nanoscale materials (nanomechanics). The underlying themes that link the two thrusts are the principles of mechanics and the processes that are relevant at small scale. His research focuses on the fundamental mechanisms that determine those processes.

He earned his BS in civil engineering (structures) at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, his MS in the same major at Washington State University, and his PhD in theoretical and applied mechanics at Cornell University. Before joining the faculty at the University of Illinois, he held faculty positions at Cornell University, the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart, and the University of Vienna.

Overview of the MBM Program
Discoveries relevant to our brains, which influence and control such a wide range of actions, emotions, and thoughts, have relied on two complimentary approaches: cognitive and behavior studies and brain cell and tissue biology studies. Our research traineeship program utilizing miniature brain machinery, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), combines these two paradigms to train the next generation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) workforce to advance discovery. Our students are recruited from neuroscience, cell and developmental biology, molecular and integrative physiology, chemistry, chemical and biomolecular engineering, bioengineering, electrical and computer engineering, and psychology to foster a culture of innovation and translational research, and will significantly impact efforts to understand and control brain activities ongoing at other institutions.