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Scott Banta
Professor of Chemical Engineering; Chair, Department of Chemical Engineering
Scott Banta’s research focuses on applying protein engineering, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology tools to solve a variety of important problems in bioengineering.
Protein engineering involves the modification of proteins and peptides in order to produce new molecules with novel traits or functions. Metabolic engineering refers to the characterization and improvement of networks of enzymes to obtain desired new goals. And research in Synthetic Biology aims to design and create new-to-nature biological systems. These pursuits can be used to bring about new solutions to problems in biotechnology, nanotechnology, biomedical engineering, bioprocess engineering, environmental applications, and bioenergy research.
Banta began teaching at Columbia Engineering in 2004. Prior to that, he was a postdoctoral researcher at The Center for Engineering in Medicine at the Shriners and Massachusetts General Hospitals and Harvard Medical School. He earned a BSE in chemical engineering from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 1997, and a MS and PhD in chemical engineering from Rutgers University in 2000 and 2002, respectively.
Research Areas
- Chemical Reactions and Kinetics
- Biological and Life Science Engineering
- Bioprocess Engineering
- Chemical Reaction Engineering
- Energy Storage and Conversion Technology
- Environmental Engineering
- Gene and Drug Delivery
- Nanotechnology
- Sustainability
- Synthetic Biology
- Renewable Energy
- Biomolecular Engineering
Additional Information
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Professional Affiliations
- Associate Editor, Biochemical Engineering Journal
- Consulting Editorial Board, AIChE Journal
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Honors & Awards
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Outstanding Alumni Award, Engineering & Information Technology, 2021
- Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), 2016
- James M. Van Lanen Distinguished Service Award, Biochemical Technology (BIOT) Division of the American Chemical Society, 2016
- James D. Watson Investigator Program Award, New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR), 2005
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Professional Experience
- Chair, Chemical Engineering, Columbia Engineering, 2022-
- Vice Chair, Chemical Engineering, Columbia Engineering, 2019-2022
- Professor, Chemical Engineering, Columbia Engineering, 2015-
- Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 2009-2015
- Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 2004-2009
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Education
- PhD, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers University
- MS, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers University
- BSE, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County