Manu Prakash
{{short description|Biophysicist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Manu Prakash
| image = Manu Prakash at TED.jpg
| caption = Prakash at TED (2017)
| field = Bioengineering
| work_institutions = Stanford University
| alma_mater = MIT, IIT Kanpur
| religion =
| doctoral_advisor = Neil Gershenfeld
| known_for = Foldscope, Paperfuge
| prizes = MacArthur Fellows Program (2016), TED Senior Fellow (2011)
}}
Manu Prakash is an Indian-American scientist who is a professor of bioengineering at Stanford University. Manu was born in Meerut, India. He is best known for his contributions to the Foldscope{{Cite magazine|title = A Microscope to Save the World|url = http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/12/21/through-the-looking-glass-annals-of-science-carolyn-kormann|magazine = The New Yorker|accessdate = 2016-09-26}} and Paperfuge.{{Cite magazine|title = The Paperfuge: A 20-Cent Device That Could Transform Health Care|url = https://www.wired.com/2017/01/paperfuge-20-cent-device-transform-health-care/|magazine = Wired|accessdate = 2017-01-10}}
Prakash received the MacArthur Fellowship in September 2016. He and his team at Stanford University have developed a synchronous computer that operates using the physics of moving water droplets.https://news.stanford.edu/2015/06/08/computer-water-drops-060815/ His work focuses on frugal innovation that makes medicine, computing and microscopy accessible to more people across the world.{{Cite web|title = Manu Prakash|author = MacArthur Foundation | url = https://www.macfound.org/fellows/965/|accessdate = 2016-09-26|author-link = MacArthur Foundation }}John Markoff, "Science Tools anyone can afford", New York Times April 21, 2014 [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/22/science/science-tools-anyone-can-afford.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article] Accessed 21 July 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ted.com/profiles/373798/fellow|title=TED Fellows|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|accessdate=2020-02-05}}
Early life and education
Manu Prakash was born in Meerut, India. He earned a BTech in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and an M.S. and PhD in Applied Physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.{{Cite web|url=https://profiles.stanford.edu/manu-prakash|title=Manu Prakash|author=Stanford University|accessdate=2018-04-04}}
Notable work
= Foldscope =
A Foldscope is an optical microscope that can be assembled from simple components, including a sheet of paper and a lens. It was developed by Jim Cybulski and Manu Prakash and designed to cost less than US$1 to build. It is part of the "frugal science" movement, which aims to make cheap and easy tools available for scientific use in the developing world.{{Cite journal|last1=Cybulski|first1=James S.|last2=Clements|first2=James|last3=Prakash|first3=Manu|date=2014-06-18|title=Foldscope: Origami-Based Paper Microscope|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=9|issue=6|pages=e98781|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0098781|issn=1932-6203|pmc=4062392|pmid=24940755|arxiv=1403.1211|bibcode=2014PLoSO...998781C|doi-access=free}}
= Paperfuge =
Paperfuge is a hand-powered ultralow-cost paper centrifuge designed by Manu Prakash and members of the Prakash Lab. Inspired by the whirlygig toy configuration, Dr. Manu designed a centrifuge using the toy's design and Supercoiling-mediated ultrafast spinning dynamics. The Paperfuge can be used to separate Plasma and RBC for rapid Malaria diagnosis in remote areas.{{Citation|title=Lifesaving scientific tools made of paper {{!}} Manu Prakash|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULNPLFrTirQ|language=en|access-date=2020-02-07}}{{Cite journal|last1=Bhamla|first1=M. Saad|last2=Benson|first2=Brandon|last3=Chai|first3=Chew|last4=Katsikis|first4=Georgios|last5=Johri|first5=Aanchal|last6=Prakash|first6=Manu|date=2017-01-10|title=Hand-powered ultralow-cost paper centrifuge|journal=Nature Biomedical Engineering|language=en|volume=1|issue=1|pages=1–7|doi=10.1038/s41551-016-0009|issn=2157-846X}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/low-cost-hand-powered-paper-centrifuge|title=A low-cost, hand-powered paper centrifuge|date=30 January 2017|website=National Institutes of Health (NIH)|language=EN|access-date=2020-02-07}}
Awards
TED Fellow 2009, TED Fellow 2010, TED Senior Fellow 2011{{Cite web|url=https://www.ted.com/profiles/373798/about|title=Manu Prakash's TED Profile|website=www.ted.com|language=en|access-date=2020-02-10}}
Gates Foundation Global Health “Explorations” Grant 2012{{Cite web|url=https://bioengineering.stanford.edu/news/bioengineer-prakash-wins-gates-foundation-global-health-explorations-grant|title=Bioengineer Prakash wins Gates Foundation global health "Explorations" grant {{!}} Bioengineering|website=bioengineering.stanford.edu|access-date=2020-02-10}}
NIH Director's New Innovator Award 2015{{Cite web|url=https://commonfund.nih.gov/newinnovator/awardrecipients15|title=NIH Director's New Innovator Award Program - 2015 Award Recipients {{!}} NIH Common Fund|website=commonfund.nih.gov|date=18 September 2018 |access-date=2020-02-10}}
MacArthur Fellow 2016{{Cite web|url=https://www.macfound.org/fellows/965/|title=Manu Prakash - MacArthur Foundation|website=www.macfound.org|access-date=2020-02-10}}
Unilever Colworth Prize 2020{{Cite web|url=https://microbiologysociety.org/resource_library/knowledge-search/news-natural-products-and-drug-discovery.html|title=News|last=Society|first=Microbiology|website=microbiologysociety.org|access-date=2020-02-10}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- https://web.stanford.edu/group/prakash-lab/
- https://www.foldscope.com/
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Category:Stanford University faculty
Category:American academics of Indian descent
Category:Scientists from the San Francisco Bay Area
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
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