Qiao Lin
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Qiao Lin’s research addresses biological and medical applications of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), with an emphasis on using MEMS and microfluidic technologies to create integrated devices and systems for micro- and nanoscale biological sensing and manipulation.
These devices and systems aim to allow sensitive and accurate interrogation of biomolecules and cells in well-controlled micro- and nanoscale environments, thereby enabling, in a manner unattainable with conventional methods, new insights into fundamental biological phenomena as well as innovative capabilities for practical biomedical applications.
Lin’s specific research thrusts involve micro- and nanoscale biosensing, aptameric microfluidics, and microfluidic biomolecular and cellular manipulation. Efforts in micro- and nanobiosensing address glucose sensing, biocalorimetry, and nanobiosensing. In glucose sensing, subcutaneously implantable MEMS sensors are created to measure glucose binding-induced changes in the physical properties of functional polymers for accurate and reliable continuous glucose monitoring in diabetes care. Biocalorimetry focuses on developing MEMS devices to directly measure and characterize thermal activities in biological reactions and interactions with reduced cost, higher efficiency, and reduced material consumption. Nanobiosensing exploits biologically functionalized nanomaterials to enable specific and sensitive biomolecular detection in physiological media. Research in aptameric microfluidics explores the use of aptamers (affinity oligonucleotides) for biosensing and manipulation, and addresses the integrated and rapid discovery of aptamers (from randomized oligonucleotides) as personalized reagents in clinical diagnostics and therapeutics. Finally, efforts in microfluidic biomolecular and cellular manipulation involve the selective isolation and enrichment, nondestructive and flexible recovery, and label-free detection of biomolecules and cells using aptamer-based affinity methods or physically based designs. Microfluidic systems are also developed to facilitate biodosimetry via integrated manipulation and gene expression analysis of ionizing beam-irradiated single cells.
Lin received a BS in engineering mechanics from Tsinghua University in 1985 and a PhD in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1998.
Research Areas
- Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)
- Microfluidics and nanofluidics
- Micro and nanobiosensing
- Biomolecular nanotechnology
Additional information
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Professional Experience
- Associate professor of mechanical engineering (with tenure), Columbia University, 2010-
- Associate professor of mechanical engineering (without tenure), Columbia University, 2005–2010
- Assistant professor of mechanical engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 2000–2005
- Assistant professor of biomedical engineering (by courtesy), Carnegie Mellon University, 2003–2005
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Professional Affiliations
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)