Our report on protease-responsive elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) is now published in Biomacromolecules
@MacroJrnls_ACS
! PhD student Brendan (
@bmwirtz00
) explored how proteases can drive phase separation of ELPs. Learn more from his tweetorial: 🧵 (1/n)
It's official... I am thrilled to join
@Stanford
's Department of Chemical Engineering as an Assistant Professor in January 2020! I can’t wait to engineer
#biopolymers
at the molecular scale with
@StanfordEng
students and postdocs!
I'm honored to be among this year's 35 Innovators Under 35 by MIT Technology Review
@techreview
! As my lab explores the intersection of materials and biology, we've found inspiration from unexpected places such as toxic bacteria:
The Mai Lab’s first research paper is now online in ACS Polymers Au
@MacroJrnls_ACS
! Postdoc Mike Burroughs
@flowslikemike
designed *beautiful* rheology experiments to explore the dynamic photocrosslinking of polymer hydrogels and nanocomposites 🧵: (1/n)
Thank you
@francesarnold
for an inspirational visit to Stanford Chemical Engineering
@StanfordEng
today as our 2022 Mason Lecturer! It was delightful to hear your brilliant talk on the past, present, and future of directed evolution, cool new enzyme families, and... (1/2)
Wow...it's an honor to be part of this group of emerging young investigators! Thank you for supporting our research on biomolecular actuation using ion-responsive repeat proteins!!
@AFOSRYIP
@AFOSR
@StanfordEng
#biopolymers
Adding "bouquet of flowers" to the list of things I never thought I'd bike home... honored to be recognized by the Faculty Women's Forum at
@stanford
and inspired by numerous colleagues today! It takes buy-in from many people to build inclusive academic environments, and... (1/2)
1st week as a new prof: welcomed 2 rotation students to the group, 2 lectures, 2 OHs, 1st undergrad advisee, 5+ safety trainings ⇒ gained lab access, gained (+ lost + re-gained) printer access, placed first lab order, and had a blast doing it all!
#newjob
#productivity
Stanford Chemical Engineering is hiring!! I have amazing colleagues and will personally vouch for our department as incredibly supportive of junior faculty members. Applications due Nov. 1, more info here:
@StanfordEng
Ever wondered how synthetic polymers behave at the molecular scale? Check out the latest
@MacroJrnls_ACS
100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint, in which
@theSchroederLab
and I highlight recent work leveraging single-molecule techniques!
Today, I received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine! I grew up as a "pharma kid" in Kalamazoo, but what I rarely share is that Mom + Dad started their careers at the Upjohn Company (now Pfizer) as a custodian + receptionist. 🧵(1/3)
That's a wrap on year 1 of assistant professorhood...and what a year it was. Happy 2021! May the new year bring vaccinations, good health, and better times. May the new year also bring new group members, new science, and new opportunities!! 💉🔬🦠🧬🧪
Yesterday, we finally took our first in-person group photo and welcomed our newest rotation students with a socially distanced BBQ! Featuring all types of 2020 swag 😷🤕 and a classic California backdrop 🌴🌄
@shh_ayy
@StanfordEng
Today, we celebrated the Mai Lab's first graduates from
@StanfordEng
!! Congratulations to ChemE undergraduates Winnie Huang + Christopher Latham and MSE master's graduate Gatha Shambharkar! We are so proud of you and excited for your very bright futures! 🎓
Stanford Chemical Engineering is hiring!! I have amazing colleagues and personally vouch for our department as an incredibly stimulating, welcoming, supportive, and fun environment! Applications (all ranks) are encouraged by 10/23:
@StanfordEng
Excited to be a part of the
#IAmAnEngineer
series by
@StanfordEng
! Our group is staying at home through the pandemic, but I look forward to eventually re-opening our lab to engineer biopolymers and to discover new properties at molecular, microscopic, and macroscopic scales.
As a biopolymer engineer, I work with molecules that are the building blocks of life, and I use them to create something new. I’m driven by the thrill of discovery. -
@daniellejmai
, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering
#IAmAnEngineer
My heart continues to break for Jim's family, friends, students, and colleagues. Since meeting Jim in grad school (c. 2013), I've looked up to him as one of the deepest scholars + kindest, generous individuals I've ever known. No words can capture the magnitude of who we've lost.
Last Friday, MIT ChemE and the chemical engineering community lost a friend, mentor and teacher, Professor Jim Swan. Our thoughts are with his students and colleagues, and especially his wife and young son.
Letter from President Raphael Reif:
Growing up, my family celebrated the Lunar New Year, but the holiday received little (to no) attention in my school or in our town. There's something special about being part of a community that broadly celebrates our culture! 🥰 Happy New Year!
#MyNameIs
Danielle Mai - pronounced like the possessive pronoun "my" or the tropical drink Mai Tai. I am the youngest in my family, so my parents gave me a name that would help me fit into our rural Michigan community. Our last name is a beautiful yellow flower in Vietnam.
"But as I learned more about science, I realized that it doesn’t require genius at all. It requires dedication, curiosity, and comfort in going against the grain of society." Love this piece by
@christineliuart
!! via
@quartzatwork
Congratulations to my colleague Jian Qin (sadly not on Twitter) who received this year's Dillon Medal!! Jian is a brilliant polymer physicist, supportive mentor to his students, and thoughtful colleague...a well-deserved honor!
@APS_DPOLY
@StanfordEng
Thank you Sharon Glotzer
@profglotz
for inspiring and thought-provoking talks this week for Stanford Chemical Engineering's 47th Mason Lectures!! It was lovely to reconnect and learn about how my alma mater has been in such great hands. Go blue!
@StanfordEng
@UMichChE
So long, Vegas!! 🎰 So proud of my team and energized by new ideas after:
5 talks 🎤
4 posters 📊
2 single-molecule focus sessions w/
@AlexanderRKlotz
🧬
1 poster award - congrats
@AlanaGudinas
🥉
1 magic show at the Mirage 🪄
1 memorable March meeting!
@APSMeetings
@APS_DPOLY
It takes a village to raise a child; does it take a village of biomolecules to make a protein?
@AlanaGudinas
and I are still captivated by the creativity of
@TingXu_Berkeley
and her team! We highlight key takeaways and opportunities in
@NatureChemistry
:
Join us tomorrow (Monday) for the Area 8A Polymers Plenary sessions! We have 2 sessions running from 8-10:30 AM and 12:30-3 PM in Celebration 5, featuring the fabulous speakers below!
@ChEnected
@aiche_mesd
(1/3)
Aaand we are back from our (my) first-ever lab retreat!!! Our beautiful weekend in Seaside/Monterey featured 5-minute rapid fire talks, research & professional skills workshops, reflections on lab culture, lab charades (!), a sandcastle contest, hiking, and lab "tattoos"... (1/2)
I look forward to serving the polymer research community in ChemE and beyond!! 🤩 (also amused by the contrasting expressions of satisfaction, anticipation, and eagerness between past
@samanvaya
, current
@KonikaDishari
, and vice chairs...😅)
@aiche_mesd
@ChEnected
#AIChEAnnual
Spring felt like summer during our group photo shoot & scavenger hunt! It was so fun to welcome our new group members since 2021: Louis Wang, Natasha Jagnandan, Alana Gudinas, Ta-Chung Liu, and Ankush Dhawan! Shoutout to Marina Chang and Winnie Huang... (1/3) [also 📸Jonny San]
This decade, 😎 style (1/2)
2010 〽️🥁 performance block
2011 🎓
@MichiganEngineering
2012 💍
2013 🏆
@NSFGRFP
2014 😢 lost my mom - miss her every day
2015 💏🔔
2016 🎓
@ChBE_Illinois
2017 👶 became an aunt!
2018 🏙️ Jonny > Boston after 7 yrs long distance
2019 💼
@StanfordEng
I'm pumped to share Marina and Winnie's review article on the monomer‐scale design of functional protein polymers using consensus repeat sequences! We explore consensus repeat proteins in the context of polymer science...
@JPolymSci
@StanfordEng
(1/3)
Congrats to
@EleanorLQuirk
for passing her ChemE PhD qualifying exam last week! The lab also welcomes our autumn rotation students: Vidushi (ChemE), Chloe (ChemE), and Priya (MSE)!
Thanks for the warm welcome during my first week as a Californian! I'm excited and grateful to have inspiring and supportive colleagues!!
#stanfordcheme
More than halfway through our first scattering experiment at
@SLAClab
@SSRLnews
BioSAXS BL4-2!! This snap taken right before leaving these 2 for the night... really proud of Marina and
@AlanaGudinas
for their dedication and focus. We've already learned so much! 🩻+🧪=📉
I'm really proud of Brendan Wirtz
@bmwirtz00
and Winnie Huang (
#notontwitter
) for being awarded
@NSF
Graduate Research Fellowships!! Congratulations to both! 🥳
Today, we welcome Christopher & Ankush to the lab through this summer's ChemE/VPUE/
@StanfordEng
REU program! First day in Shriram w/o masks in a long time... very refreshing to see everyone's smiling faces! 😀
What a fun visit by
@RosalesGroup
@TexasChE
today!! I always enjoy learning more about dynamic, ECM-mimetic hydrogels. Hats off to the amazing students and postdocs of the
@StanfordPolymer
Collective for inviting Adrianne and organizing everything, and shout-out to chef Jonny!
My head and heart are full after an energizing
#APSMarchMeeting
. It was uplifting to learn about the great work that happened despite trying circumstances, to catch up with old friends, to meet new(ish) friends in person, and to see the growth and effort of my first students! 😍
Last Thanksgiving, Jonny and I started our road trip from Boston to Palo Alto. We had no clue what was in store for us over this past year, but I'm grateful that our families are healthy and safe as we find ourselves having another Thanksgiving without them.
#wearamask
#gratitude
Happy Halloween from
@StanfordEng
Chemical Engineering!! Great minds think alike (Daniela of
@jaramillogroup
and I both "turned red" 🚨🐼) and fun with colleagues
@TarpehDiem
and Kat the Cat!
ColorMePhD is excited to release HydrogeLand: A Candy-Filled Hydrogel Adventure! This free 2-in-1 board game/coloring page features chemical engineering research by
#WomenInSTEM
!! 🌈✏️🧪🍭 Please Share & Enjoy!
Printable DL & instructions at
Happy New Year!! 2022 was the year of our group's first paper (see below, team effort by
@flowslikemike
@tracyhle
@dncongreve
). Here's to more on the way in 2023! 🥂 ✍️ 📖 Stay tuned here and at
Hello, Orlando! Postdoc Mike Burroughs
@flowslikemike
and I will represent the lab at the AIChE annual meeting
@ChEnected
@aiche_mesd
(pro-tip for search committees: Mike is on the faculty job market this year!) Stop by a poster or talk to learn about sustainable & biopolymers!
Today's mail included my first fabric poster! Hubby asks, "is it machine washable?" (Apparently, yes) Thanks to
@Spoonflower
for the print, and looking forward to the
@BeckmanFnd
Symposium!
#AcademicTwitter
The news is out!!! Congrats to Mike Burroughs
@flowslikemike
for winning an Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship
@BeckmanFnd
! Mike has already made a strong positive impact on our lab, and I'm excited about the new directions that he'll explore with this award!
@StanfordEng
Polymers are GIANT molecules, so it seemed fitting to take a (bio)polymer lab excursion to see an SF Giants win!! ⚾ (also, a very belated twitter welcome to our summer researchers Yujia Bian, Ava Conyer, Kenny Hernandez, and Ally Yun!)
On this Lunar New Year's Eve, the group celebrated a new beginning for Ta-Chung Liu, who is about to start as an Assistant Professor at National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan! Farewells are always bittersweet. Congratulations, safe travels home, and we will miss you Ta-Chung!
Thanks again to
@TosohBio
for sponsoring today's plenary sessions for Area 8A (Polymers)! I really enjoyed learning about ongoing progress and future directions in polymer engineering from all of our speakers!! 🤓
#AIChEAnnual
#AIChE2023
@ChEnected
@aiche_mesd
My students know that I'm a sucker for miniature labware, and we are all super excited for our mini-benchtop coolers from
@Proteintech
in celebration of Life Scientist Appreciation Week!
#LSAW21
(Full sized benchtop cooler for scale) So cute!! Squeeee!
Later today, Stanford ChemE extends a big (virtual) welcome to our prospective graduate students!! Campus visits played a huge role in my own grad school choice, so I'm grateful that technology lets us meet each other AND keep our current and future students safe + healthy. (1/2)
Student + postdoc interactions are one of my favorite parts of my new job. I was thrilled to share my research with a few of them at yesterday's
@StanfordPolymer
lunch and learn! Thanks
@helen_chem
for the invitation and to everyone who attended for great questions and ideas!
So proud of Andrea Flores
@andrea_flores_2
(
@StanfordEng
SURF Scholar) for her fantastic lightning talk today! ⚡⚡ Andy adapted to remote research this summer and proposed creative designs for new anisotropic biomaterials. Keep an eye out for Andy, biomaterials world!!!
Between a local crisis (thankfully now averted) and national events (I'm still processing)... It's been a week. On the bright side, lots of smiling faces for this summer's first group meeting! Welcome to several of our lab's summer students, Winnie, Peter, Isabella, & Lisa!!
I'm so grateful that we had the opportunity to learn from and work with
@petermusenge
, who joined us through the SURF Program by
@StanfordEng
. Congratulations on a great summer in the lab, and best wishes for all your future endeavors!!
A big warm WELCOME to my newest colleague
@Joseph_DeSimone
!! We are lucky and excited to have you at
@StanfordEng
. I look forward to many years of learning from you and with you!
After 30 y at
@UNC
& 25 y at
@NCState
, I’m excited to announce my transition to
@Stanford
with appointments in
@StanfordMed
,
@StanfordEng
, &
@StanfordGSB
. Had a good run in NC, grateful for the opportunity, friendships & collaborations, eager to re-start my academic career in CA!
Posters by Louis and Alana represent more firsts for the lab!! Grateful for their hard work and excited about where they'll take their research! (Yes... that's
@AlexanderRKlotz
in the foreground of the "action shot")
@APS_DPOLY
#APSMarchMeeting
Hybrid meetings remind me that it's more important than ever to build a team of mentors as you navigate your career. Countless mentors have shaped my perspective on this topic, which I share in the latest AIChE CEP Emerging Voices column:
@ChEnected
Thank you to the UK Polymer Physics Group for organizing a wonderful meeting last week on the Physical Aspects of Polymer Science
#PAPS2022
at the Institute of Physics
@PhysicsNews
in London! It was an honor to represent
@APS_DPOLY
and to share our group's recent progress. (1/2)
Always a joy to see the Stanford polymers community together in one place! Thanks to our great team of student+postdoc leaders for a vibrant kickoff to the new academic year!
Great turn out today for the first SPC happy hour of the year! Lots of enthusiastic students and postdocs came by to get to know each other and
#polymer
PIs including Professors
@TarpehDiem
,
@zhenanbao
,
@daniellejmai
,
@YanXiaLab
, and Gerry Fuller!
I am proud of our
@StanfordEng
SURF scholar, Ava Conyer
@AvaConyer
!! Ava contributed to our lab's investigation of biolubrication mechanisms, and she discovered counterintuitive design principles for graft biopolymers. Thanks to
@flowslikemike
for mentoring Ava! (1/2)
Scientists of Twitter! The world needs more reminders that we're living, breathing human beings.
Quote tweet this with a picture of you doing not-science 🤓
Foraging for sea urchins with my dad & my husband!! The trip was almost a bust until we bumped into a marine biologist...
Scientists of Twitter! The world needs more reminders that we're living, breathing human beings with lives outside a lab. Quote tweet this with a picture of you doing not-science!
No water, no electricity, all home sweet home. I miss 137...
Last week, we returned to the beach for our 3rd lab retreat in Half Moon Bay!! Retreats are helpful opportunities to reflect on our progress as a lab, to develop new skills and ideas, and to make new memories in a relaxed setting. I'm proud of what we've built so far...
Enjoyed my first "tech party" today via Twitterless husband Jonny ... soooo cool to sit in this vehicle (robot) made by his team!! I'm very much looking forward to whenever I can take a
@zoox
around this city. 🚗 🤖 🏙️
Zoox is nine today! Cheers to almost a decade of incredible growth, innovation, and making history. 🎉✨Thank you to our crew and supporters who have joined us on this incredible journey.
#ThisisZoox
Round 2 of lab swag as part of our huge THANK YOU to Christopher + Ankush for their hard work and fantastic contributions this summer!! Christopher brought our
@opentrons
robot "Otto" online, and Ankush developed new codes for single-molecule image analysis. (1/2)
I love my job, but I would not wish it upon anyone who doesn't think it's right for them. We desperately need engineers and scientists, with or without PhDs, to contribute to all areas of society!!
#RealAc
Normalize PhDs who do not stay in academia.
It’s okay to choose another route. Your work is still important. Your work is still valid. Your work is still novel (I hate that word but you know how it goes 🙄).
Meet Mike Burroughs, our next Distinguished Young Scholars Seminar presenter! Dr. Burroughs is the Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow at
@stanford
and will be sharing a talk entitled, Illuminating Polymer Resins for Sustainable 3D Printing. Learn more:
I'm excited to share that undergraduate researcher Winnie Huang already clinched the top spot in the inaugural Mai March Madness bracket challenge! When she returns to campus this fall, she will be greeted by this Golden Picker Award on her desk... (1/2)
Agreed!!! My jaw dropped when I first learned about the $$ behind the scenes to support PhD research. Considering the balance between a graduate stipend* / total compensation / opportunity cost gave me perspective about the value of my education and contributions. *not wages!
I think something that should be introduced much earlier in grad school is how grant funding works. Overhead, fringe benefits, tuition waivers - I had basically no idea how any of it worked until I was pretty far along.
A fun collaboration indeed!! We started this
@StanfordEnergy
project thinking about how we can use light to control polymers, and this project showed us the versatility of using polymers to control light. 💡 A big round of applause to the entire team! 👏
Today after lecture (it's the last day of Stanford's quarter), my students asked for the "Professor Mai Zoom Mixtape" 😂😅 after such a nice validation of my music taste, I'll leave this student-suggested track here...
@ChEnected
As
#NPAW2022
wraps up, I'm excited to recognize the contributions of our postdoc Mike Burroughs
@flowslikemike
! He wrote our group's first research paper (submitted last week) and is slated to speak at a GRS
@GordonConf
later this year. We appreciate you, Mike!!
Today was poster session 2 of 3 for our summer researchers, ft. current
@StanfordEng
students Ally Yun and Kenny Hernandez! (New lab swag, too!) Thanks to
@bmwirtz
for his mentorship and
@StanfordVPUE
for supporting first-time researchers and FLI students through the ChemE REU.