Singh Seminar Series: Pia Bhatia and Kyle Keenan

Singh Center Seminar Series

Date: Monday, October 27, 2025

Time: 12:00 pm

Singh Center – Glandt Forum

Fabrication of Coupled Nanopore Sensors for Biomolecular Sequencing

Speaker: Pia Bhatia

Abstract

Rapid sensing of molecules is increasingly important in many studies and applications, such as DNA sequencing and protein identification. Here, beyond atomically thin 2D nanopores, we conceptualize, simulate and experimentally demonstrate coupled, guiding and reusable bilayer nanopore platforms, enabling advanced ultrafast detection of unmodified molecules.

About the Speaker

Pia Bhatia is a graduate student in Marija Drndic's group in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Penn. Broadly, her work focuses on engineering 2D materials (namely, molybdenum disulfide, hexagonal boron nitride, and graphene) for a variety of applications.

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A “typical” Day in the Life of QNF’s Operations Manager

Speaker: Kyle Keenan

Abstract

The duties and responsibilities of the QNF Operations Manager are numerous and varied. This presentation will attempt to shed a little light on areas they encompass, and the challenges they bring.

About the Speaker

Kyle Keenan has been working in Nanotechnology for nearly 30 years. His career began at Alpha Industries where he learned photolithography and metrology before moving on to MIT Lincoln Laboratory where he learned etch and disposition and was largely responsible for the bulk of the CDSEM images and data taken for the Microelectronics Lab (MEL). In 2008, Kyle moved to the Philadelphia area and worked briefly for a startup company that produced AFM probe tips before being hired at Penn's Wolf Nanofabrication Facility (WNF), and eventually moving over to the Quattrone Nanofabrication Facility (QNF). In his time at Penn, Kyle began as an equipment technician before being promoted to the Operations Manager of QNF where he oversees a Staff of 3 full time employees.