Mingming Wu

Professor, Biological and Environmental Engineering

Mingming Wu is a Professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering. She was drawn to the field of biological engineering by her admiration of the exquisite micro- and nano-scale machinery found in the natural world. She is leading a lab that develops micro- and nano-scale technologies for solving contemporary biological, medical, and environmental problems. Her lab gains inspiration by exploring how tiny cells (often 1/10th of the width of a hair) move within a given microenvironment. Her lab motto is to see the unseeable and to measure the unmeasurable, all though the development of new technologies.

Education

Doctorate
The Ohio State University
1992

Bachelor of Science
Nanjing University
1984

Recent Research

Professor Wu's research lab studies molecular mechanisms with which cells sense and migrate, using an integrated microsystems engineering and theoretical modeling approach. She and her students develop microfluidic systems to provide cells with well-defined and physiologically realistic 3D microenvironments (e.g., chemical gradients, fluid flows, and biomatrices). They also develop and utilize advanced microscopic imaging systems to quantify cellular dynamics. Their current focus is on the roles of tumor cell microenvironment in cancer cell chemoinvasion and its implications in cancer metastasis.

Awards & Honors

Fellow (2016) American Physical Society
Swiss International Visiting Scholar (2010) Swiss National Science Foundation
Young Research Scientist Fellowship (1992) French Ministry of Defense (DRET), Ecole Polytechnique
Graduate Student Alumni Research Award (1989) The Ohio State University

Courses Taught

Professor Wu is teaching an upper-level undergraduate/entry level graduate course, BEE 4550/6550 Biologically Inspired Microsystems Engineering. She is also teaching an introductory-level undergraduate course, BEE 2600 Principles of Biological Engineering.

Contact Information

306 Riley Robb Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853

(607) 255-9410

mw272 [at] cornell.edu

- Biofluidics Lab

Mingming in the news

News

September 22, 2021

Micro-robots propelled by air bubbles and ultrasound

Cornell researchers created cell-size robots that can be powered and steered by ultrasound waves. Despite their tiny size, these micro-robotic swimmers could be a formidable new tool for targeted drug delivery.

Biological and Environmental Engineering
Biology
Health + Nutrition

FutureCast

March 31, 2021

Mobilizing microbes: How can mining rare-earth elements become more sustainable?

In the search for more sustainable energy technologies, many of the solutions humans are turning to – rechargeable batteries, massive wind turbines, electric cars, LED lighting – rely on what are known as rare-earth elements. There are 17 rare...

Biological and Environmental Engineering
Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Energy