Event
BIOE Seminar: Nik Nair
Friday, September 18, 2026
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
A. James Clark Hall, Room #2121
Sara Molinari
saramol@umd.edu
Nik Nair
Professor
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University
Abstract & Bio
Nik Nair (naa-year) received his B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Cornell University (Ithaca, NY). While at Cornell, he was a founding member and lead guitarist of the not-so-well-known progressive metal band called “Rubicon”. After graduation and a brief stint at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he worked as a manufacturing research scientist in biotechnology purification development, he received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign under the guidance of Prof. Huimin Zhao. He joined Tufts in 2013 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship in Microbiology and Immunobiology at the Harvard Medical School in Prof. Ann Hochschild’s lab. He was recently promoted tothe rank of Professor in Fall 2026. He is a recipient of the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, Tufts Rising Innovator of the Year, and is a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). The Nair Synthetic Biology & Systems Bioengineering Lab focuses on biomolecular and cellular engineering to advance sustainable biomanufacturing and human health. In his spare time, which is increasingly rare, he likes to play guitar, golf, & video games and watch trashy TV shows like 90 Day Fiancé and Sister Wives. He wouldeventually like to resurrect “Rubicon” once his young sons are old enough to master their instruments (Kiran: guitar; Liam: keyboards).
