Trying to mimic nature at microscales unveils the wonder and genius of it

Tanveer ul Islam is a postdoctoral researcher in the Microsystems group. He is working on developing artificial cilia chip systems that can help understand “ciliopathies”. These are diseases caused by malfunctioning of biological cilia, microscopic hair-like protrusions present in almost all our organs. By mimicking their functioning using artificial cilia, Tanveer will create chips that enable to study the origin and consequences of ciliopathies.

Tanveer ul Islam obtained his M.Tech from IIT Roorkee and PhD from IIT Bombay where he worked in the Advanced Microengineeing Lab in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His thesis work was based on shaping fluid films by controlling a fluid interface instability towards the fabrication of microfluidic devices. His work also included designing flexure mechanisms for precise control over the microfluidic processes. His current postdoctoral project is hosted jointly by TU/e and EPFL in Switzerland.