University of Chicago · Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering

Noah
Kahn

Molecular engineering undergraduate at the University of Chicago, bioengineering track, with a specialized minor in quantum information science. I work at the intersection of biology and physics, with current projects involving cell culture, microfluidics, and computer vision.

Undergraduate Researcher — Tay Lab Lefteroff Intern — Fogarty Innovation / Enspectra Health TA — Computational Biology, R & Python

Currently

Researching microfluidic live-cell systems in the Tay Lab
Building computer vision tools for biological image analysis
Preparing for a Fogarty Innovation / Enspectra Health medical imaging project
TA'ing biology courses with R and Python components

I'm interested in tools that make biological systems easier to measure — microfluidic experiments, imaging systems, computational pipelines, and quantitative models. My work sits between wet lab biology, engineering, and software.

Research Focus

Quantitative Systems Biology

Microfluidic live-cell experiments, mammalian cell culture, quantitative biological assays, and triculture systems.

MicrofluidicsCell CultureLive-Cell ImagingSystems Biology

Computer Vision for Biological Imaging

GPU-accelerated image analysis, CPSAM segmentation, CUDA-enabled pipelines, cell classification, and ML dataset generation.

PythonCUDACPSAMComputer VisionMachine Learning

Medical Imaging & Translational Engineering

Incoming Fogarty Innovation / Enspectra Health project involving multiphoton laser scanning and reflectance confocal microscopy.

Optical ImagingMultiphotonConfocal MicroscopyMedical Devices

Lab Work

Research

Tay Lab

Undergraduate Researcher · Prof. Savas Tay · University of Chicago

2026 – Present

Sole undergraduate researcher in a 20+ person systems biology lab at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.

  • Fabricating and operating microfluidic devices for live-cell experiments and quantitative biological assays.
  • Applying mammalian cell culture techniques for live-cell microfluidic triculture experiments.
  • Developing computer vision pipelines for quantitative image analysis and cell classification.
Methods MicrofluidicsCell cultureLive-cell imagingComputer visionPythonSystems biology

Selected Work

Projects

Tay Lab — University of Chicago

AI-Powered Microfluidic Image Analysis

Problem

Live-cell microfluidic triculture experiments generate image data that needs scalable quantitative analysis.

Approach

Developing a GPU-accelerated pipeline using CPSAM segmentation and CUDA-enabled computer vision for cell classification and ML dataset generation.

PythonCUDACPSAMComputer VisionMachine LearningMicrofluidics

Independent — structural bioinformatics

Mitochondrial Disease Research

Problem

Isolated Complex II deficiency and SDHx-associated diseases require integrating pathogenic variant data with structural protein models.

Approach

Analyzing protein structure and disease-associated variants using AlphaFold, PyMOL, ChimeraX, gnomAD, and ClinVar.

AlphaFoldPyMOLUCSF ChimeraXgnomADClinVarStructural Biology

Genehackers RSO

Genelock — Novel Antimicrobial Platform

Problem

Programmable DNA sequestration may offer a synthetic-biology approach to antimicrobial design.

Approach

Contributing to the wet lab team by writing protocols, designing assays, and identifying target sequences using UniProt.

Synthetic BiologyWet LabUniProtDNA SequestrationAssay Design

Background

Experience

Lefteroff Intern

Fogarty Innovation / Enspectra Health · Silicon Valley, CA

June 2026 – August 2026

Medical devices

  • Competitive fellowship placing undergraduates in early-stage medical device companies in Silicon Valley.
  • Selected for an Enspectra Health project involving hardware and software work on a novel skin imaging system.
  • System combines multiphoton laser scanning and reflectance confocal microscopy.
Medical DevicesOptical ImagingHardware / SoftwareTranslational Engineering

Teaching Assistant

Quantitative Bioscience Center · University of Chicago

December 2025 – Present

Teaching

  • Tutor undergraduate and graduate students in R, Python, and computational biology tools including RStudio, SnapGene, BLAST, and related software.
  • Support courses through office hours, lectures, labs, grading, quizzes, and instructional materials.
TeachingRPythonBioinformaticsMentorshipScientific Computing

Program Assistant

Abundance Foundation · Chicago · Boston · Kigali

June 2025 – Present

Program

  • Work at the intersection of global health, academic medicine, and program operations.
  • Support work connected to Partners in Health and Harvard's Department of Global Health & Social Medicine.
Global HealthPublic HealthProgram OperationsAcademic Medicine

Summer Intern

Southwest Airlines · Nashville, TN

June 2022 – August 2022

Industry

  • Built Python-based automation systems for PPE inventory and barcode labeling workflows.
  • Improved operational efficiency for ramp equipment tracking.
PythonAutomationOperationsLogistics

Academic Background

Education

University of Chicago

Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering

Expected June 2027

B.S. Molecular Engineering, Bioengineering Track

Specialized Minor in Quantum Information Science

Selected Coursework

G graduate level
Quantitative Systems BiologyFoundations of Quantum OpticsMathematics of Quantum MechanicsEngineering Quantum MechanicsApplied Regression AnalysisMolecular Engineering ThermodynamicsMolecular Engineering Transport PhenomenaPrinciples of Engineering Analysis I & IIFundamentals of GeneticsOrganic Chemistry I, II, III

Courses TA'd

Fundamentals of PhysiologyFundamentals of Developmental BiologyMicrobial & Human Cell BiologyMathematical Modeling for Pre-Med Students

Activities

Chess Club - Vice President Delta Kappa Epsilon - Secretary Poker Club - Vice President Bridge Club Genehackers Partners in Health Engage

Technical

Skills

Programming & Analysis

PythonRMATLABCUDANumPy / SciPyRStudioJupyter

ML & Image Analysis

Computer VisionCPSAMGPU-Accelerated PipelinesCell ClassificationML Dataset GenerationTensorFlowPyTorch

Bioinformatics & Structural Biology

AlphaFoldPyMOLUCSF ChimeraXgnomADClinVarBLASTSnapGeneSequence Analysis

Experimental Biology

MicrofluidicsCell CultureLive-Cell ImagingMicroscopyWet-Lab TechniquesAssay Design

Visual Work

Photography

I photograph portraits, events, campus life, and lab spaces — mostly around Chicago. The science photos here are from a tour of EeroQ's quantum hardware facility.

Available for Bookings

Based in Chicago. Reach out for headshots, portraits, lab documentation, or event coverage.

Get in touch
Snowy quad, UChicago

Main Quad — winter

EeroQ quantum chip closeup

Quantum chip — EeroQ

Harper Library in snow

Harper Library

Cherry blossoms, UChicago

Cherry blossoms — campus

EeroQ quantum hardware

Dilution refrigerator hardware — EeroQ

Mansueto Library in snow

Mansueto Library

UChicago architecture

Campus architecture

Campus gate in snow

Campus gate — winter

Let's connect

Get in Touch

Open to conversations about any of my many interests, from engineering to biophysics to chess to talking about UChicago, don't hesitate to reach out!

noahkahn@uchicago.edu