Department of Chemical Engineering

A new device could pave the way for card-swipe medical diagnostics. This device could be the first step toward medical diagnostic tests that use readers similar to magnetic card-swipe machines, according to researchers at the University of Utah. Such tests might include immunoassays, DNA hybridization, and other biological assays.

Chemical Engineering professor Marc D. Porter, Chemistry scientist Michael C. Granger, and coworkers base their device on the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect, by which the resistivity of a material undergoes large changes in response to an applied magnetic field. Sensors based on the GMR effect contain alternating thin layers of magnetic and conducting materials and are widely used as high-speed read heads in computer hard disk drives.

Donald A. Dahlstrom 1920-2005
In connection with the AIChE Centennial Celebration, Chemical Engineering Progress (CEP) Magazine featured 100 eminent chemical engineers of the modern era. The late University of Utah professor Donald Dahlstrom is one of the engineers to receive this recognition.  Dr. Dahlstrom is recognized for his work in mineral liquid-solids separation processes for recovery and waste disposal. Founding chairman, AIChE Environmental Division, and was the AIChE President in 1964.