Location: Atlanta, GA Contact: Tina Guldbergmailto:tina.guldberg@gatech.eduGeorgia Tech Manufacturing Institute(404) 385-4950 Description: The Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI) welcomes Dr. Todd McDevitt, Associate Professor in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University; and Petit Faculty Fellow in the Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, who will speak on "Biomanufacturing of Stem Cells," on Monday, March 4, 2013. The seminar begins at Noon in Room 114 of the Callaway Manufacturing Research building.Todd McDevitt started his career doing undergraduate work at Duke University, and completed his Ph.D. in Bioengineering at the University of Washington. After finishing a post-doc in Seattle, McDevitt joined the Coulter Department in 2004. Along with teaching BMED 2210, a fundamental stepping-stone in the undergraduate BME curriculum, he heads the ESCT (Engineering Stem Cell Technologies) lab in the BME department that focuses on stem cell differentiation.The McDevitt Laboratory for the Engineering of Stem Cell Technologies is focused on the development and application of engineering principles to translate the potential of stem cells into viable regenerative therapies and in vitro diagnostics. Biomaterials-based approaches are used to engineer the microenvironment of stem cells in order to improve the efficiency and homogeneity of directed stem cell differentiation strategies.In addition, the McDevitt laboratory’s research focuses on development of novel regenerative molecular therapies from natural biomaterials produced by stem cells. The combination of directed stem cell differentiation and development of stem cell-derived biomaterials is expected to yield fresh insights into stem cell biology, facilitate new regenerative therapies and create novel cell diagnostic platforms. The McDevitt laboratory research is supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, American Heart Association and the Georgia Research Alliance, among others.McDevitt was named the 2010 Society for Biomaterials Young Investigator from the Society of Biomaterials. He was appointed as a Petit Faculty Fellow in the Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience in September 2009 and named the Director of the new Stem Cell Engineering Center at Georgia Tech, which launched in 2010. It is the first center of its kind in the United States will bring together expertise from different engineering disciplines to address key technical challenges that currently limit the translation of stem cells and to innovate new technologies that will enhance basic stem cell research.