Gartia Wins College’s Ross Martin Award

 

NPRE PhD Manas Gartia is the 2014 winner of the Ross J. Martin Award, recognizing outstanding research achievement by a College of Engineering at Illinois graduate student.

 

Gartia, who earned his PhD in December and currently is a postdoctoral research associate for the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, worked with his advisor, Assistant Prof. Gang Logan Liu of Electrical and Computer Engineering, on the thesis, “Nanoplasmonics and Silicon Nanophotonics Devices for Sensing Applications.” Gartia also is continuing postdoctoral research with Prof. Dipanjan Pan at the Biomedical Research Center of Mills Breast Cancer Institute and Carle Foundation Hospital, to apply the developed sensors for point of care and clinical applications.

Through his research, Gartia has developed a unique approach to quantifying materials structures using a highly specialized substrate that enhances the imaging, particularly the vibrational, rotational, and other low-frequency characterizations, of the materials. The substrate is a unique part of the experimental technique since it permits high electro-magnetic fields to develop at the peak tips where the material for examination rests. This local high field can perturb the material’s internal electron structure so researchers can obtain strong Raman signals from highly localized volumes of the material.

The technique can be applied to a large class of materials, including several of high interest to biomedical, energy, environmental, and materials science applications. Gartia has made significant impact on the areas of

• 3D Cellular Imaging, in which, with a well-designed substrate, the internal light reflections can reconstruct 3D images of the cell, including chemical makeup information
• DNA and Protein Imaging, in which similar techniques can provide precise information about the cellular DNA or protein makeup
• Specialized Chemistry Sensors, in which the technique can provide precise information about the chemical makeup of water-base solutions for a variety of agricultural, industrial and medical applications
• Techniques to study and support nanofluidics.

Gartia has plans to extend his technique’s sensitivity to precisely determine process materials’ chemical and molecular makeup to advanced medical, industrial, and scientific applications. The medical work will focus on examining reactions in membrane-bound proteins, and could have revolutionary results affecting drug delivery and efficacy.

A year ago, Gartia and other members of Liu’s research team were recognized for developing MoboSens, a low-cost, smartphone-based sensor that allows users to test water quality and specifically detect nitrate concentration. The device won second place out of more than 400 participant teams in the Vodafone Wireless Innovation Project competition that identifies and funds innovative wireless-related technology addressing critical social issues around the world. Gartia worked on the development of the microelectrochemical sensing chip for MoboSens.

He also was the Distinguished Award Winner at the XPrize: Nokia Sensing X CHALLENGE in 2013. Among his other awards and honors are:

• Cozad: EnterpriseWorks Incubator Prizes Winner, 2013
• National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) Stage 1 Winner, 2013
• NCIIA Stage 2 Winner, 2014
• Finalist, Lawrence Fellow, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, March 2013
• Best Poster, 2012 Institute of Elecrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Engineering in Medicine & Biology Science (EMBS) Micro-and Nanotechnology in Medicine Conference
• IEEE Travel Grant Award, December 2012
• Honorable mention, Link Foundation Energy Fellowship, 2012
• Fellow, Mavis Future Faculty Fellowship (MF3), 2011-2012
• Fellow, Mavis Future Faculty Fellowship (MF3), 2010-2011
• Fellow, Sargent & Lundy LLC, 2008-2009
• Fellow, Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, 2001-2003
• Member, Tau Beta Pi (Engineering Honor Society), 2010-present
• Member, Alpha Nu Sigma (NPRE Honor Society), 2010-present

Gartia holds one patent and has filed for two others. He has been published in numerous internationally-recognized journals and in many conference proceedings. He will be recognized for his latest honor at the Annual College of Engineering Faculty Awards Ceremony on Monday, April 28.

The Martin Award is a memorial to Ross J. Martin, associate dean of the College of Engineering, who served as director of the Engineering Experiment Station for 26 years, until his death in 1984. During his tenure as director, the engineering research budget grew eightfold. Dean Martin realized how essential research is to a sound graduate engineering education and was instrumental in making Engineering at Illinois one of the foremost research institutions in the world. This award is a tribute to his guidance and to the outstanding research conducted in Engineering at Illinois.