Postdoctoral Scholars

	Brad Olsen Office: 018 Sherman-Fairchild Joint appointments: Tirrel Lab, Kornfield Lab B.S. Chemical Engineering, MIT Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, UC Berkeley
	Shelly Tzlil Office: 014 Sherman-Fairchild Joint appointment: Tirrel Lab B.Sc. Chemistry and Computer Science, Hebrew University Ph.D. Physical Chemistry, Hebrew University

Graduate Students

	Paul Pirogovsky Office: 016 Sherman-Fairchild B.S. Chemical Engineering, Oregon State University
	Christina Ting Office: 018 Sherman-Fairchild B.S. Biochemistry, UT Austin Research Interests: Stochastic processes and statistical mechanics of biological systems, polymer physics Cellulose Hydrolysis Cellulosic ethanol has the potential to serve as a liquid fuel with a zero net carbon dioxide emission. In order to make the conversion process cost-efficient, it is critical to develop an understanding of the enzymatic hydrolysis. We are working on developing a kinetic model to answer the molecular mechanism by which cellulase enzymes processively peel off and hydrolyze a polymer chain from the crystalline cellulose. In particular, why has the cellulase enzyme evolved into two physically separated domains connected by a long, flexible linker? How does the linker couple the dynamics of the two domains? What is the optimal linker length and/ or flexibility?
	Jenny Witman B.S. Chemical Engineering, Purdue University M.S. Chemical Engineering, Caltech

Administrative Staff

	Kathy Bubash Office: 206 Spalding Lab email: kathy at cheme dot caltech dot edu phone: x4193