![\"\"](\"\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/12\/2023_headshot_MJ-600x600-1-300x300.jpg\")
<\/figure>\t\t\t\tMiguel Jimenez*<\/h6>\n\t\t
Assistant Professor (BME, MSE)<\/p>\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/p>\n
Project Description<\/span><\/h3>\nOur research group (el Microbial Integration Group) at Boston University develops microbial devices: systems that integrate engineered microorganisms with materials, microfluidics, and electronic or mechanical components to sense, compute, and respond to real-world environments. Our work spans applications in human health, environmental monitoring, and biomanufacturing, with an emphasis on making living systems robust, deployable, and measurable outside of traditional laboratory settings.<\/span><\/p>\nThe participant will contribute to the design, assembly, and testing of a modular microbial device platform, focusing on how biological signals from living cells can be measured, stabilized, or interfaced with physical hardware. Specific experimental tasks will be tailored to the participant\u2019s background, but may include culturing non-pathogenic microbes, preparing simple formulations or materials, assembling benchtop device prototypes, and collecting and analyzing experimental data.<\/p>\n
Research Goals<\/h3><\/span><\/p>\n\n- Characterize how environmental or design variables (e.g., materials, geometry, timing, or measurement methods) influence biological signal output.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Generate reproducible data suitable for inclusion in a presentation (e.g. poster).<\/span><\/li>\n
- Documenting experimental methods and results in a way that supports both scientific dissemination and educational translation.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Learning Goals<\/h3><\/span><\/p>\n\n- Gain hands-on experience with interdisciplinary research combining microbiology, engineering, and data analysis.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Build familiarity with laboratory practices such as experimental design, data collection, troubleshooting, and documentation.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Learn how biological research questions are framed and iterated in an engineering-driven research environment.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Develop concrete examples, activities, or datasets that can be adapted for use in high school science classrooms.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Strengthen confidence engaging students with real-world examples of bioengineering and applied research careers. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Timeline<\/span><\/h3>\nWeek 1:<\/strong><\/span> Lab orientation and safety training; introduction to microbial device concepts; shadowing mentors on ongoing experiments.
\n<\/span>Week 2:<\/strong><\/span> Hands-on training in basic experimental techniques (e.g., microbial culture, device assembly, or measurement tools).
\n<\/span>Week 3-4:<\/strong><\/span> Independent experimental work with mentor guidance; iterative testing and data collection.
\n<\/span>Week 5:<\/strong><\/span> Data analysis and visualization; documentation of methods and outcomes; discussion of classroom translation opportunities.
\n<\/span>Weeks 6:<\/strong><\/span> <\/span>Synthesis of results; preparation of a poster or short presentation; reflection on research outcomes and educational applications.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mentors Project Description Our research group (el Microbial Integration Group) at Boston University develops microbial devices: systems that integrate engineered microorganisms with materials, microfluidics, and electronic or mechanical components to sense, compute, and respond to real-world environments. Our work spans applications in human health, environmental monitoring, and biomanufacturing, with an emphasis on making living systems […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19768,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[118],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10049"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19768"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10049"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10731,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10049\/revisions\/10731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The participant will contribute to the design, assembly, and testing of a modular microbial device platform, focusing on how biological signals from living cells can be measured, stabilized, or interfaced with physical hardware. Specific experimental tasks will be tailored to the participant\u2019s background, but may include culturing non-pathogenic microbes, preparing simple formulations or materials, assembling benchtop device prototypes, and collecting and analyzing experimental data.<\/p>\n
Week 1:<\/strong><\/span> Lab orientation and safety training; introduction to microbial device concepts; shadowing mentors on ongoing experiments. Mentors Project Description Our research group (el Microbial Integration Group) at Boston University develops microbial devices: systems that integrate engineered microorganisms with materials, microfluidics, and electronic or mechanical components to sense, compute, and respond to real-world environments. Our work spans applications in human health, environmental monitoring, and biomanufacturing, with an emphasis on making living systems […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19768,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[118],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10049"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19768"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10049"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10731,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10049\/revisions\/10731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Research Goals<\/h3>
\n
Learning Goals<\/h3>
\n
Timeline<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n<\/span>Week 2:<\/strong><\/span> Hands-on training in basic experimental techniques (e.g., microbial culture, device assembly, or measurement tools).
\n<\/span>Week 3-4:<\/strong><\/span> Independent experimental work with mentor guidance; iterative testing and data collection.
\n<\/span>Week 5:<\/strong><\/span> Data analysis and visualization; documentation of methods and outcomes; discussion of classroom translation opportunities.
\n<\/span>Weeks 6:<\/strong><\/span> <\/span>Synthesis of results; preparation of a poster or short presentation; reflection on research outcomes and educational applications.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"