Project Leader - IKA Works, San Diego, CA, USA
Nov 2016 - Present
IKA is a Germany-based world leader in laboratory, analytical, and processing equipment and technology. 

​Our primary work has focused on the development of the ElectraSyn 2.0, a first-of-its-kind device for organic chemists to perform electrochemical synthesis, which combines a potentiostat/galvanostat, an analytical instrument, and a stirring plate. This project was developed in collaboration with Professor Phil Baran from the Scripps Research Institute. 

- I am responsible for the entire electrode series (20+ different elements) and the stirring plate. My main work involves design, which I do with Autodesk Inventor and use a Stratasys FDM printer to do prototyping. However, I am also in charge of the project from conception to release, which requires interacting with Industrial Design, Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain, Marketing, and Sales. ​
​- I have also been in charge of the Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) feature of the device; it is the second pillar of the product. This is an analytical function that measures the redox peaks of a compound of interest by applying a voltage linearly and measuring the current flow through the electrode. I used Python to lay out the code architecture of the filters for data handling and supervised the senior electronics engineer to implement the code into the device on embedded-C. As the technical point of contact for CV related questions, I interact on a frequent basis with our applications support team to provide solutions to customers queries.

​An additional electrochemistry project we developed is the IKA Screening System. This is a platform for electrochemical screening developed in collaboration with Professor Sigi Waldvogel from the University of Mainz. 

- I am the project leader for this product line. This project is based on our Headquarters in Staufen, Germany. During development I prepared technical drawings and organized material for assembly and quality analysis. ​
Awards
Achema Innovation Award 2018 for ElectraSyn 2.0 (company award)
Red Dot Award for ElectraSyn 2.0 (company award)
Acknowledgements
Yan, M; Kawamata, Y; Baran, P. S. Synthetic Organic Electrochemistry: Calling All Engineers. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, pp. 4149 - 4155. [Link]  (personal acknowledgement)

#Electrochemistry #Project management #Prototyping #CAD #German #Manufacturing
Research Assistant - UC San Diego, CA, USA
Dec 2015 - Nov 2016
Jesse Jokerst is an Associate Professor at UC San Diego. His research group uses biomedical imaging to improve human health. The combination of nanoparticles and photoacoustic imaging can increase contrast, which is an essential tool in diagnostics. Photoacoustic Imaging is a modality that uses light as the source and ultrasound as the measuring tool. A photoacoustic active particle will absorb light and undergo a heat expansion that causes pressure waves that can be read with an ultrasound transducer.
- Helped develop a novel technique to monitor anti-coagulation dosage during surgical procedures via Photoacoustic (PA) Imaging. Current anti-coagulation monitoring systems suffer from a time delay that could be critical for the patient. The goal of the project was to develop a real-time measuring system using Methylene Blue coated Silica Nanoparticles. The work was published in Nano Letters. Current PA systems are very large because the combine a high power laser with an ultrasound system. Posterior research on this project involved developing a wearable device to facilitate integrating PA imaging in the ICU. 
​
- Using SolidWorks and Fusion 360 for modeling and 3D printing as the manufacturing method, I developed a platform to standardize the measurement of contrast agents in PA Imaging. Prior methods for comparing the signal strength of contrast agents involves long and meticulous processes such as an agar gel. This tool provides a time-efficient platform for measuring the strength of our agents in under 5 minutes. This work was published in Photoacoustics. All tests were ran on a Vevo LAZR Photoacoustic Imaging System. Furthermore, I developed a Matlab script to optimize the analysis of the images afterwards, previously this was done manually (subjectively) with ImageJ. 

- In collaboration with Professor Andrea Tao, we evaluated using Copper Sulfate (CuS) nanoparticles as contrast agents in ovarian cancer imaging. Our side of the collaboration involved working with animal models (nude mice): injecting the cancer subcutaneously, performing several tail-vein injections of the nanoparticles, and the PA measurement. Due to the size and properties of CuS nanoparticles they are good candidates for accumulating at the tumor location and emitting a strong PA signal. ​
Papers
Chen F, Zhao E, Kim T, Wang J, Hableel G, Reardon PJT, Ananthakrishna SJ, Wang T, Arconada-Alvarez SJ, Knowles JC, Jokerst JV. Organosilica nanoparticles with an intrinsic secondary amine: An efficient and reusable adsorbent for dyes. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2017, 9 (18), 15566-15576. [Link]

Arconada-Alvarez SJ, Lemaster JE, Wang J, Jokerst JV. The development and characterization of a novel yet simple 3D printed tool to facilitate phantom imaging of photoacoustic contrast agents. Photoacoustics 2017, 5, 17-24. [Link]

​Wang J, Chen F, Arconada-Alvarez SJ, Hartanto J, Yap LP, Park R, Wang F, Vorobyova I, Dagliyan G, Conti PS, Jokerst JV. A nanoscale tool for photoacoustic-based measurements of clotting time and therapeutic drug monitoring of heparin. Nano Letters 2016, 16 (10), 6265–6271. [Link]
​
Presentations
Development of a nanoparticle based hybrid for the monitoring of therapeutic drug Heparin via Ultrasound-based Measurements. Frontiers of Innovation Conference. UCSD. 2016. [Poster]
#Nanoparticle synthesis #Animal models #Ultrasound #Lasers #Photoacoustic Imaging #CAD #3D printing #Matlab
Researcher Assistant - Salk Institute, CA, USA
Jun 2014 - Jun 2015
Julie Law is an assistant professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences. Her research group focus on the study of the role of chromatic readers in the stability of the genome. By using a plant model, Arabidopsis Thaliana, it becomes easier to study the effects of altering these chemical markers.
 
- Performed plant transplants and supervision of the different strands that were under study. Routine tissue collection and DNA extraction for analysis. Subsequent amplification of the DNA and imaging for gene detection. 

- Exposed seedlings under UV radiation and used ImageJ to measure root length.
#Plant biology #Genotyping #PCR #Electrophoresis #Western Blot #Optical Microscope
Intern - Grupo Antolin, Burgos, Spain
Aug 2013 - Oct 2013
Grupo Antolin is a leader on Automotive Interior manufacturing. Advanced Carbon Materials is a division of the company specialized in development and marketing of graphene-related innovative solutions for industrial applications across diverse sectors.

- Performed data collection of pH measurements of carbon nanofiber and graphene oxide aqueous suspensions. 

​- Studied the precipitation of carbon nanofiber aqueous solutions.
Awards
Startup UCSD - 1st place
May 2016
Competed among other Start-ups to present idea, team, and business plan to a panel of judges.
The price was a dedicated workspace in the Qualcomm Institute with access to legal resources, a prototyping lab, and $5.000 in credit. Three startups won the prize.

We presented SPark, an iOS app that displays data on parking availability on college campuses. By displaying real-time information on the availability at different parking structures spread throughout a large campus, students can make informed decisions of which location they can try to find a space, rather than aimlessly try out one parking structure after the next in hopes of finding an, unlikely, open spot. 


Genentech's BioTechathlon - 2nd place
March 2016                     
The prompt was: Develop a business strategy that provides the network and the required capacity while balancing, as applicable, the uncertainty and efficacy of their new pipeline drug, cost of underutilized plant run time and costs associated with contract manufacturing. Consider the sociological impact of your strategy, including what possible benefits your drug may have (both medically and economically) and how you want to market your drug, considering specific regions and populations.​

Due to the increasing life expectancy and number of EVGF cases, we proposed to market in Chile to gain competitive advantage. We picked Chile because of it's political stability compared to the rest of South America and the higher life expectancy of the population. Here is the presentation file.

​
Ideator $10.000 December Challenge - 3rd place
December 2015
Persons from all ages and social groups with a business idea were encouraged to compete. All submissions were publicly voted on. The Ideator panel selected five ideas to move to the next round (Game Builder, Spark, Super Troupe, TrustMesh, and Wisher). The final was broadcasted live and pitched from the finalists' location. Our idea: Spark - A new way to find parking, received 3rd Place. Read more about it here.

Provost Honors - University of California, San Diego
2012-2013, Spring 2014, Winter 2015, 2015-2016








​