Prof. Alvin Nienow Lecture Stirred not Shaken: From UCL to UCL
Dr. Alvin W. Nienow has recently been appointed an Honorary Professor in the Department of Biochemical Engineering at UCL and will talk about his journey from being an undergraduate at UCL, then a PhD student and lecturer then becoming professor of Biochemical Engineering at Birmingham University before being returning to UCL.
Prof. Alvin Nienow Lecture Stirred not Shaken: From UCL to UCL
16 Dec 2021, 16:00 – 17:00
Professor Alvin Nienow will start by considering the impact of UCL on him and his impact on UCL from 1955 to 1980. He began as an undergraduate and later (1963) became both a Lecturer and PhD student (PhD 1968). Later, he was appointed Departmental Tutor to Undergraduate Students and promoted to Senior Lecturer before leaving for a Chair in Chemical Engineering at The University of Birmingham (1980). Alvin will then discuss his transition to a Chair in Biochemical Engineering in 1989 and how his many studies in the physical aspects of mixing in stirred vessels were an important part of that transition. These studies related to bioprocesses involving enzymes, plasmid DNA, bacteria, yeast, mycelia, and most recently, stem cells on microcarriers and T- and CAR-T cells. A good example of the synergy between studies of the physical aspects of mixing and bioprocessing is the suspension of particles. Alvin’s first paper on the former arose as part of his PhD at UCL on crystallisation (1968). Particle suspension is also critical for the culture of T-and CAR-T cells in stirred bioreactors required to be activated by Dynabeads, as first shown in his papers in 2019 and 2020, lead by colleagues at UCL. Finally, he will discuss the advantages and disadvantages as he sees it of approaching biochemical engineering from a chemical engineering or a biologically-based background.
Professor Alvin Nienow
Honorary Professor
UCL
Dr. Alvin W. Nienow has recently been appointed an Honorary Professor in the Department of Biochemical Engineering at UCL. He graduated in Chemical Engineering at UCL in 1958 and came back to it in 1963 as a lecturer, leaving in 1980 for a Chair in Chemical Engineering at the University of Birmingham where he is now an Emeritus Professor of Biochemical Engineering. He is also Visiting Professor at Aston and Loughborough Universities, holding an Honorary Doctorate from the latter and from the West Pomeranian University (Poland). He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (1985) and of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. Alvin has won several awards; Moulton and Donald Medals (Institution of Chemical Engineers), Lifetime Recognition Award for Mixing (European Federation of Chemical Engineering) and the Peter Dunnill Award (BIA). He has published > 400 papers and supervised > 60 research students and his early work at UCL included fluidisation; but the core topic has always been mixing in stirred vessels and since the mid-1990s, related to bioprocesses involving enzymes, plasmid DNA, bacteria, yeast, mycelia, and most recently, stem cells on microcarriers and T- and CAR-T cells. He has also consulted and taught courses for many companies in UK, Europe and USA.
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