Cong T. Trinh | Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Cong T. Trinh received a BS degree in Chemical Engineering (with summa cum laude, honors thesis) at the University of Houston in 2003; a PhD degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in 2008; and a postdoctoral research training at the University of California, Berkeley in 2008. In 2011, Trinh started his academic career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2017 and is currently a Ferguson Faculty Fellow in Chemical Engineering.
Trinh has a broad research interest in the interdisciplinary areas of systems and synthetic biology, metabolic and biochemical engineering, and microbial cell physiology. His research is focused on fundamentally understanding complex cellular systems and developing novel experimental and computational tools to control these systems for biotechnological applications related to energy, food, health, and environment. Research thrust 1 is to understand the principles of modular design in biological systems and develop the transformative MODCELL (Modular Cell) technology to engineer modular chassis cells for rapid development of novel microbial biocatalysts for industrial biocatalysis. Research thrust 2 is to understand the mechanisms to inactivate pathogens and develop the transformative ViPaRe (Virulent Pathogen Resistance) technology to effectively combat rapidly evolving and resistant pathogens. Research thrust 3 is to understand the mechanisms of cellular robustness against environmental perturbation and develop effective defensive tools to boost cellular robustness for applications from disease prevention to novel biocatalysis.
Awards and Recognitions
- 2019: DARPA YFA Director Fellowship
- 2019: TCE Teaching Fellow Award
- 2018: Chancellor Research & Creative Achievement/Professional Promise
- 2018: TCE Professional Promise in Research Award
- 2017-present: Ferguson Faculty Fellow
- 2017: DARPA Young Faculty Award
- 2017, 2014: CBE Outstanding Teaching Award, UT
- 2017: ASEE New Researcher Award
- 2016: Thomas & Ruth Clark Chem Eng Excellence Award in Teaching, UT
- 2016: CoE Professional Promise in Research Award, UT
- 2016: NSF CAREER Award
- 2014: Professional Development Award, UT
- 2013-2015: Summer Pre-College Service Award, UT
- 2010: Best Poster Award at Metabolic Eng VIII Conference, Republic of Korea
- 2007: Best Poster Award at LifeScience Alley Conference and Expo, Minnesota
- 1999-2003: Dean’s list, UH
- 2001: University Scholars Program scholarship, UH
- 2000: Cullen College of Engineering scholarship, UH
- 1999-2001: Lubrizol scholarship, UH
Professional Service
- Chairs and Coordinators for AIChE, ACS BIOT, and SIMB
- Editor board for Frontiers in Systems Microbiology; Frontiers in Microbial Physiology and Metabolism; Journal Biochemical Engineering, Processes, and BioDesign Research
- Reviewer for NSF, USDA, and DOE
- Member, American Society of Chemical Engineering
- Member, Society of Biological Engineering
- Member, American Chemical Society
- Member, Society of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology
- Member, International Metabolic Engineering Society
- Member, Tau Beta Pi, Engineering Honors Society
- Member, Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi
- Member, Omega Chi Epsilon, Honor Society of Chemical Engineering