DR. YIXIN LIU | PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering

Affiliated Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Liu leads the Smart Molecular Sensing Lab at Michigan Tech. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Connecticut and spent five years developing and translating industrial chemical sensors at ABB U.S. Corporate Research.

ISABEL CHAPA | Ph.D. Candidate, Chemical Engineering

Isabel Chapa is a Ph.D. candidate in Chemical Engineering and a GEM Employer Fellow in partnership with Applied Materials. She earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin,  where her research included computational studies of semiconductor processing and experimental synthesis of nanomaterials. She joined the lab in Fall 2023. Her current research focuses on molecularly imprinted polymer-based electrochemical sensors for detecting contaminants in complex food matrices.

VERDICT VERA | Ph.D. Candidate, Biomedical Engineering

Verdict Vera is a Ph.D. candidate in Biomedical Engineering. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering from Anna University and joined the lab in Fall 2023. His research focuses on multi-analyte biosensors for health monitoring, combining molecularly imprinted polymers with electrochemical and field-effect transistor sensing platforms to detect clinically relevant biomarkers.

GRACE RICKAUER | Ph.D. Student, Chemical Engineering | NIH T32 Trainee

Grace Rickauer is a Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering and an NIH T32 trainee. She earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Tech and brings experience in fluorescent probes for cellular and protein sensing, along with a strong interest in sustainability. She joined the lab in Fall 2026. Her doctoral research explores synthetic bioreceptors for protein biomarkers, with the goal of developing point-of-care devices for disease diagnostics.

KAVINDU LOCHANA | Ph.D. Student, Chemical Engineering

Kavindu Lochana is a Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering with a background in polymer science and interests in polymer informatics, machine learning, and data-driven materials discovery. He joined the lab in Fall 2026. His research focuses on machine-learning approaches for sensor data analytics and computational frameworks for the design and discovery of synthetic receptors.

ALICIA HINMAN | M.S. Student, Chemical Engineering

Alicia Hinman is an M.S. student in Chemical Engineering and earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Tech. She joined the lab in Summer 2026 and began her research on hydrogel-based materials for sweat capture. Her current work focuses on developing membrane-based approaches for biofluid capture and transport to support wearable, point-of-care, and other sensing applications.