GENETICALLY ENGINEERED MATERIALS

SCIENCE & ENGINEERING CENTER

NSF-MRSEC at the

University of Washington

(click on logo at left to go to GEMSEC website)

On Oct. 1, 2005, NSF awarded a grant to the University of Washington for the establishment of a "Genetically Engineered Materials Science and Engineering Center (GEMSEC)" through its MRSEC Program.  

The GEMSEC investigates genetically engineered and tailored protein-based molecular building blocks for use in synthesis, assembly, and formation of nanostructured hybrid materials with novel photonic, electronic, or chemical properties in applications of technology and medicine. The center is establishing an international network of laboratories sharing common interests in molecular biomimetics and is partnering with industry and National Laboratories.   The MRSEC will conduct a unique outreach program to Native Americans. 

Five departments (MSE, ChemE, Chem, EE, and Microbiol) in three colleges are partnering in this Center with 10 investigators: Mehmet Sarikaya (Director), Francois Baneyx (Co-Dir), David Ginger, Alex Jen, Ram Samudrala, Dan Shwartz, Candan Tamerler, Beth Traxler, Babak Parviz, Younan Xia. The amount of funding for GEMSEC is $7,700,000 for 6 years (including NSF and the UW matching), renewable every six years indefinitely (see www.NSF.gov or www.MRSEC.org.).

The UW MRSEC is one of the two established in this 3-year cycle, and is one of the 28 such prestigious MRSECs located at primary universities around the country, each pushing the limits of science and technology in materials, chemistry, physics and biology. The overarching goal of the center is to formally marry materials sciences and biology, a concept long term coming.