ChBE, ME faculty members receive USG Regents’ titles for their contributions in research and innovation.

By: Joshua Stewart (jstewart@gatech.edu)

A pair of Georgia Tech engineers has been appointed to Regents’ positions by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, the highest distinction from the system.

At the board’s May meeting, the Regents elevated Craig Forest to Regents’ Entrepreneur and Hang Lu to Regents’ Professor.

The board also renewed former provost Rafael Bras’s appointment as a Regents’ Professor.

The titles recognize faculty members for academic, innovation, and entrepreneurial excellence. Altogether, the Regents honored nine Georgia Tech faculty members and reaffirmed the appointments of six others. Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera approved second renewals for four additional faculty members.

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Craig Forest

Regents’ Entrepreneur
Professor
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

 

Forest develops small, high-throughput robotic instruments to advance genetic research and neuroscience. His team has created tools that detect viruses, personalize drug dosages to prevent heart attacks, and speed genetic engineering processes in the lab. They’ve also advanced micro-fabrication techniques, allowing them to model the flow of fluids and photons and identify neurons in the brain.

Forest’s lab created a robot that automates a tedious and time-consuming research technique called patch clamping that allows scientists to measure the electrical properties of individual cells. Life sciences company Sensapex has licensed their patented technology.

Forest founded Tech’s original student-run makerspace, the Flowers Invention Studio. He also co-created the Georgia Tech InVenture Prize, one of the nation’s largest invention competitions for undergraduates.

Craig Forest
Hang Lu

Hang Lu

Regents’ Professor
Professor and Cecil J. "Pete" Silas Chair
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Associate Dean for Research and Innovation
College of Engineering

 

Lu researches at the intersection of engineering and biology, creating miniature lab-on-a-chip tools to study neuroscience, genetics, cancer, and more. By shrinking devices closer to the scale of actual biological systems, her team can examine the unique properties and phenomena that occur at the micro and nano scales.

Lu uses her devices alongside optical tools, machine learning, and other techniques to understand complex biological systems. Her team’s goal is to uncover new pathways to treating disease by getting a full picture of the normal function of those systems and how they function when disrupted.

As associate dean, Lu is responsible for identifying new research opportunities, encouraging research collaborations, and facilitating partnerships among faculty across Georgia Tech and with outside partners. She also serves as associate director of the Southeast Center for Mathematics and Biology (SCMB), a $10 million research initiative supported by the National Science Foundation and Simons Foundation. 

Lu received the Georgia Tech Class of 1934 Outstanding Interdisciplinary Activities award in 2023. She is a fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).

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