Research Groups

Carbon Technology Center

Carbon Technology Center

The Carbon Technology Center has been established to develop fundamental and applied carbon materials technology. Consistent with the strengths of Michigan Tech, emphasis is placed on materials characterization and end use applications.  The role of the CTC in technology development is to incubate ideas, progressing them to the point where they become self-sustaining.


Heldt Bioseparations Lab

Heldt Bioseparations Lab

The Heldt Bioseparations Lab focuses on the science of viral surface interactions and apply it to vaccine manufacturing and purification. We are interested in how viruses interact with different surfaces and chemistries. This could be important in how viruses infect cells, but we focus on how we can change surfaces to improve purification and manufacturing of viral therapies. Our goal is to better understand manufacturing and inactivation processes and bring viral therapies to market faster.


LAboratory for Separation Technologies

The LAboratory for Separation Technologies (LAST) aims to advance knowledge base on intermolecular forces, kinetics and transport at fluid-gas and fluid-solid interfaces. Our group is developing mineral processing and extractive metallurgy technologies to support efficient and economic production of critical materials with a minimal life cycle impact. Another research thrust in our lab involves physical and chemical separation to recover value-added constituents from the current waste stream.


Medical micro-Device Engineering Research Lab

Medical micro-Device Engineering Research Lab

Our M.D.-ERL group engineers medical diagnostic microdevices with a primary focus on human blood electrokinetics. Our goals are to develop portable, point-of-care tools providing rapid, quantitative results for disease diagnosis and monitoring. This approach will streamline disease identification and streamline treatment methods that can be better tailored to the patient.


Ong Research Lab

Ong Research

Biofuel and Bioproducts Laboratory

  • Environment, Biomass, and Process Interactions
  • Upgrading Waste Plastics
  • Bio-based Product Development

Smart Chemical and Biological Sensing Laboratory

The Smart Chemical and Biological Sensing Laboratory (SCBSL) at Michigan Technological University is an interdisciplinary lab that integrates advanced nanostructured materials, device design and data driven approaches to develop high performance chemical and biological sensing technologies. Our research interests include 1) electronic noses/tongues, bioinspired materials, and integrated sensing systems for applications in environment monitoring, smart agriculture, food assessment and healthcare; 2) machine learning assisted sensing material development.


Design Institute of Physical Properties

Design Institute of Physical Properties

The goal of this project is to develop a comprehensive database of critically evaluated properties of regulated chemical species that are important to the chemical process industry. Properties of the pure species pertaining to environmental, safety and health (ESH) concerns are the prime focus in the data collection and validation efforts of the project.