Seminar: Wednesday, April 12. 2023—10:30 AM, ME 2054

Q&A Immediately following at 11:30 AM

The breadth of mechanical engineering concepts as applied to biomedical engineering problems

Abstract:

When I started my tenure‐track professor career at UCR in 2003, I founded the laboratory of Transport Phenomena for Biomedical ApplicaƟons (LTPBA). Back then, my group and I carried out studies aimed at understanding how lasers interact with biological Ɵssue and how combined cooling and heaƟng processes could improve diagnosƟcs and therapeuƟcs in dermatology. Since then, I have devoted much of my research efforts toward the development of effecƟve processes that involve laser diagnosƟcs, thera‐ peuƟcs, cavitaƟon‐induced mechanical and thermal damage, and even materials processing. Currently, one research thrust in my group aims at developing a novel transparent polycrystalline YƩria‐Stablized‐Zirconia (YSZ) cranial implant (“window”) that ena‐ bles life‐long, non‐invasive delivery and/or collecƟon of laser light into and from shallow and deep brain Ɵssue on demand. Such an implant would allow for real‐Ɵme and highly precise visualizaƟon and treatment of diverse brain pathologies, such as those resulƟng from traumaƟc brain injury (TBI) or brain tumors, without the need of highly‐invasive craniotomies or trepanaƟon proce‐ dures. Another research thrust aims at designing laser rewarming systems that enable us to bring back small droplets containing precious biological material (e.g., fish embryos, larvae) back from suspended animaƟon. This latest work is parƟally supported by a 4th Gen NSF‐ERC called ATP‐Bio. A summary of our approach, latest results, ongoing, and future studies will be presented during my talk.

Bio:

Prof. Guillermo Aguilar received his B.S. in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from the NaƟonal Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1993. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. also in Mechanical Engineering at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 1995 and 1999, respecƟvely. In 1999, he received a Whitaker Postdoctoral Fellowship to join the Beckman Laser InsƟtute and the former Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering and Material Sciences (CBEMS) at the University of California Irvine (UCI). In 2001 he was appointed as an Assistant Adjunct Professor at the then Center for Biomedical Engineering at UCI. In 2003 Prof. Aguilar joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University of California Riverside (UCR), where he was promoted to Associate Professor in 2007, Full Professor in 2012 and from 2013‐2021 served as the Department Chair. Since July 2021, Professor Aguilar joined the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University as the James and Ada Forsyth Professor and Department Head. Prof. Aguilar has received research funding from various sources, including NSF, ASLMS, AFOSR, Sandia NaƟonal Labs, NIH, etc. He is a Fellow of the American Society for Lasers in Surgery and Medicine (ASLMS), American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME), American InsƟtute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and Member of the Mexican Academy of Engineering (AIM). His research interests include cryo‐ gen spray cooling, laser‐Ɵssue interacƟons, biomedical opƟcs, and materials laser processing. He has co‐authored more than 110 journal publi‐ caƟons, advised more than 13 postdocs, 58 students, including more than 30 graduate students (MS and PhD) and several undergraduate stu‐ dents and interns.