Angela Belcher

Angela M. Belcher is professor of materials science and engineering and biological engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). [ [http://dmse.mit.edu/faculty/faculty/belcher/ MIT web page] ] She is director of the Biomolecular Materials Group at MIT and a MacArthur Fellow, following the MacArthur Foundation awarding her their genius grant for 2004.

A "TIME" article [cite web|publisher=TIME|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1604912,00.html|title=|date=2007-04-06|author=Michael D. Lemonick|title=Angela Belcher] featured her work on viral batteries and "Scientific American" named her research leader of the year in 2006 for her current project. [cite web|url=http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=CA13F432-E7F2-99DF-3DD2C7F789E34178|title=Scientific American 50: Research Leader of the Year|author=J.R.Minkel|date=2006-11-12|publisher=Scientific American] After studying abalone shells, she worked with several colleagues at MIT and managed to engineer a virus, known as the M13 bacteriophage whose target is usually "Escherichea Coli". M13 can be made to latch onto and coat itself with inorganic materials including gold and cobalt oxide. The long tublar virus (coated in cobalt oxide) now acts as a minuscule length of wire called a nanowire. Angela Belcher, and her colleagues, coaxed many of these nanowires together and found that they resemble the basic components of a potentially very powerful and compact battery. In 2002 she founded Cambrios with Evelyn Hu of the University of California, Santa Barbara. [ [http://www.cambrios.com/39/Company.htm Cambrios website] ] Their vision relied upon the use of nanostructured inorganic material, fabricated and shaped by biological molecules to create novel materials and processes for a variety of industries.

Belcher attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she received her Bachelor's degree from the College of Creative Studies in 1991 and her Ph.D. in chemistry in 1997. [cite web|url=http://www.ccs.ucsb.edu/distinguished_alumni/Belcher/|title=The College of Creative Studies - Distinguished Alumni - Angela Belcher, Ph.D. (From her commencement speech, June 2003) |author=Angela Belcher|publisher=University of California, Santa Barbara|date=2003-06]

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