ASM International San Fernando Valley Chapter Presents

March 2011 Meeting

Speaker Dr. Moh El-Naggar, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, USC Topic Microbially Synthesized Materials for Bioenergy & Bio Manufacturing Abstract Microbes can be regarded as powerful factories that catalyze a wide array of reactions to meet their energy demands. Understanding and taking advantage of these activities at the biotic-abiotic interface presents potentially transformative approaches to bioenergy and biomanufacturing. For example, the ability of certain microorganisms to transfer electrons directly to solid surfaces enables the emerging technology of microbial fuel cells, where living cells utilize complex or mixed biofuels to produce electricity. This talk will describe our ongoing work on microbial fuel cells and emphasize the role of conductive extracellular appendages known as bacterial nanowires. The approaches taken range from device-scale electrochemical characterization, to nanoscale electron transport measurements along bacterial nanowires produced by the dissimilatory metal-reducing bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. Finally, this talk will present a biological route to manufacturing nanostructured chalcogenides for photoactive applications. This method will be illustrated with a case study that takes advantage of the respiratory and detoxification activities of S. oneidensis MR-1 to synthesize macroscopic sheets of arsenic sulfide nanofibers. About the Speaker Moh El-Naggar’s interests lie at the interface of physics, microbiology, and nanotechnology, with special emphasis on microbial activities at the biotic-abiotic interface, and devices that exploit this interface (http://nanobio.usc.edu). Dr. El-Naggar received a B.S. degree in engineering from Lehigh University (2001), followed by M.S. (2002) and Ph.D. (2006) degrees in Mechanical Engineering (with Applied Physics minor) from the California Institute of Technology. In 2006, He started postdoctoral work in geobiology at the University of Southern California (USC), before becoming an assistant professor of physics (2009) at USC, working at the interface between nanoscience and biological physics. He has been an Applied Materials, Inc. Graduate Fellow (2004-2006) and a guest researcher at the LBL Molecular Foundry (since 2008). He is also the recipient of an Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Award (2010).

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