“Electromagnetic radiation applications at GE Global Research”

Dr. V. Bogdan Neculaes, senior scientist and project leader at GE Global Research, will give an overview of industrial research projects that are based on various uses of electromagnetic radiation. The wide range of applications include bioelectrics (electric pulse effects on biological cell - with wound healing as a ultimate target, and the use of laser treatment to permeabilize the cell membrane), pulsed  electric fields for pollution control, microwave treatment of coals for production of liquid fuels, use of low power microwave sensing for counting calories in food samples and the use of charged particle beams for generating X-rays for medical imaging.  The presentation will give insights into how industrial research projects are conducted, with a balance between addressing the basic research questions and focusing towards prototyping and practical implementation.  

Bio

V. Bogdan Neculaes received the B.S. and M.S. in Physics from Al. I. Cuza University Iasi, Romania in 1999 and 2001, respectively, and an M.S. and PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

He joined the High Energy Physics Laboratory at GE Global Research in Niskayuna, NY in 2005, where he is currently a senior scientist. Dr. Neculaes’ expertise covers physics based applications in medical imaging, bioelectrics, and biomedical medical devices. He led one of the largest X-ray source programs at GE Global Research in the recent decades that delivered, with funding from GE and NIH, the first in the world distributed X-ray source for Inverse Geometry Computed Tomography. Dr. Neculaes is also leading the first successful X-ray source demonstrations with Carbon nanotube cold cathodes at GE. He has initiated and chaired the Bio-electromagnetics initiative at GE Global Research, a multidisciplinary research platform focused on creating novel electromagnetic means for manipulation of biological samples. Dr. Neculaes’ teams demonstrated new means for cell permeabilization using infrared lasers to enable exogenous molecule delivery, novel gene delivery methods in vitro using magnetic nanoparticles and magnetic fields, and innovative ex-vivo platelet activation techniques with pulse electric fields for autologous wound healing applications in clinical workflows. He has published numerous peer reviewed articles in prestigious peer review journals, while being awarded seven patents. His latest peer reviewed papers unveil new thermal gradient mechanisms at the cell membrane upon interaction with pulsed electric fields, and growth factor release from platelets when activated via electrical pulse stimulation.