Joel Voldman, PH.D.
Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
voldman@mit.edu | RLE Biography | RLE Video

Joel Voldman, Ph. D., is an Assoociate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA. Prof. Voldman received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1995. He received the Masters degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, in 1997 and his Ph.D. from MIT in 2001. Following this, he performed postdoctoral training in George Church's lab at Harvard Medical School. He has been on the MIT faculty since July 2002. In 2004, he was awarded the NBX Career Development Chair, and in 2006 he was promoted to associate professor.

Chadwick Collins
Administrative Assistant
chadcoll@mit.edu

Mr. Collins joined RLE in the fall of 2001 as the administrative assistant for Prof. Jacob White and the Computational Prototyping Group. He began working for the Biological Microtechnology and BioMEMS Group in 2006. 

Melanie Hoehl (HST)

melanie@mit.edu

Melanie Hoehl received her B.A. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge, UK before starting her PhD in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. She joined the Biological Microtechnology and BioMEMS group in 2009. Her research involves the study of cell-cell interactions in immunology and fusion mechanisms in stem cells.

Joseph Kovac (EECS)

jrkovac@mit.edu

Joseph Kovac (MIT S.B. '05, M.Eng. '06) is a Ph.D. candidate in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and is originally from Fort Worth, Texas. He joined the Biological Microtechnology and BioMEMS group from 2002-2003 as an undergraduate researcher, and in August 2005 as a graduate student. His research is focused on development of enabling technologies for mammalian cell sorting and manipulation. His research interests include microfluidics, soft lithography, optics, and microscopy.

Outside MIT, Joseph's interests lie in road cycling, running, photography, and competitive international long-range target rifle shooting, a sport he took up in the eighth grade. He is currently captain of the United States Under 25 Team to the 2007 World Championships in Ontario, Canada

Nick Mittal (Physics)

nmittal@mit.edu

Nikhil Mittal received his B.Tech. in Engineering Physics from IIT Mumbai in 2000, and his MS in Biophysics from MIT in 2003. He joined the Voldman Lab in 2005, and has been investigating the role of autocrine factors in the growth of mouse embryonic stem cells using a combination of biochemical approaches, MEMS, and numerical modeling. In his free time, Nick enjoys playing the mandolin and watching movies.

Laralynne Przybyla (Biology)

lprzybyl@mit.edu

Laralynne received her B.S. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Purdue University in 2006, and then began at MIT in the Biology Ph.D. program. She is interested in applying her biology background to engineering techniques for cell patterning and signaling, and her current research is focused on studying the local effects of signal presentation within embryonic stem cell colonies. In addition to science, Laralynne enjoys the following: biking, coffee, post-modern literature, tacos, 80s music, and good beer.

Somponnat Sampattavanich (EECS/HST)

ssampat4@mit.edu

Somponnat or Pat Sampattavanich received his B.S. degree in biomedical engineering in 2005 from Johns Hopkins University. He joined Biological microtechnology and BioMEMS group on July 2005. Currently, Pat is finishing up his SM degree from EECS department and pursuing his PhD in MEMP program from HST. His current research involves study of autocrine signaling in embryonic stem cells using cell patterning techniques.

Michael Vahey (EECS)

mvahey@mit.edu

Mike received his B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University before starting at MIT in 2004. His research interests involve using physics, engineering, and applied math to conceptualize, design, and test new methods for sorting and manipulating cells. In his free time, Mike enjoys eating, sleeping, and other life sustaining activities.

Katarina Blagovic

blagovic@mit.edu

Katarina Blagovic received her Dipl.-Ing. degree from the University of Zagreb, Croatia in 2001 and her PhD from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland in 2006, both in Electrical Engineering. Before joining the group in March 2007 and getting involved with microfluidic devices to culture cells, her research interests were in the area of computational electromagnetics. Her ideal way of spending free time is enjoying snow-covered mountains.

Yi-Chin Toh

yichin@mit.edu

Yi-Chin obtained her B.Eng in Chemical Engineering and PhD in Bioengineering from the National University of Singapore. She worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology before joining MIT in 2008. Her research interest is in the application of microfluidics and BioMEMs to control the cellular microenvironment and she hopes to understand how stem cells respond to changes to their microenvironment. Yi-Chin is an avid animal lover and enjoys nothing more than spending a lazy afternoon with her cats.

Wei Mong Tsang

wmtsang@mit.edu

Wei Mong Tsang received his B.Eng. and M.Phil. in Electronic Engineering from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2000 and 2002 respectively, and his Ph.D in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Surrey, UK, in 2007. Before joining RLE in April 2007 and getting involved with microelectrode for neural stimulation of the moth Manduca Sexta, his research interests were in the electron field emission properties of nanostructured materials.