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Title

Assistant Professor

Office Building

Daktronics Engineering Hall

Office

217

Mailing Address

Daktronics Eng Hall 217
Electrical Engineering/Computer Science-Box 2222
University Station
Brookings, SD 57007

Education

• Postdoctoral in electrical and biomedical engineering | Arizona State University
• Ph.D. in physical chemistry | Peking University, China
• B.S. in physical chemistry | Peking University, China

Academic Interests

• Biosensors
• Chemical sensors
• Wearable sensors
• Wearable health care devices
• Mobile health
• Data science
• Advanced sensing materials
• Nanomaterials

Academic Responsibilities

• EE454/554 Biomedical Instruments and Electrical Safety
• EE460/560 Sensors and Measurements
• EE260 Electronic Materials
• EE792 Wearable Sensors and Devices
• EE790 Materials Seminar

Committees and Professional Memberships

Committee Activities

• EE Graduate Committee
• EE Faculty Search Committee

Professional Memberships

• Member of American Chemical Society (ACS)
• Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Member of Materials Research Society (MRS)
• Topic Editor of Chemosensors
• Topic Editor of Biosensors

Grants

• Mobile multifunctional tool for monitoring and management of respiratory diseases. National Institutes of Health, April 16, 2014 - April 15, 2015.
• A multi-analyte device for air quality monitoring. National Institutes of health, Dec. 1, 2014 - Nov. 30, 2015.
• Mobile multifunctional tool for monitoring and management of respiratory diseases. National Institutes of Health, April 16, 2015 - March 31, 2016.
• Non-Invasive Mobile Device for Tracking Cardiovascular Functions. National Institutes of Health, Aug. 1, 2015 - July 31, 2017.
• Mobile multifunctional tool for monitoring and management of respiratory diseases. National Institutes of Health, April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2017.
• A badge-like exposure device for occupational safety and epidemiological study. National Institutes of Health, July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019.
• Mobile multifunctional tool for monitoring and management of respiratory diseases. National Institutes of Health, April 1, 2017 - March 31, 2020.
• A Personal Exposure and Response Monitoring System for Pediatric Asthma Study. National Institutes of Health, Sept. 30, 2015 - June 30, 2020.
• Gradient Based Colorimetric Array Sensor for Detection of Transdermal Biomarkers of Macronutrients Intake and Metabolic diseases. Samsung, Jan. 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021.
• A badge-like exposure device for occupational safety and epidemiological study. National Institutes of Health, Aug. 1, 2019 - July 31, 2022.

Patents

1. Zhongfan Liu, Liying Jiao, Xiaojun Xian, Yingying Zhang, Jin Zhang. Method of Axially Modulating the Band Structure of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube, Chinese patent, No. ZL 2006 1 0113212.6.
2. Zhongfan Liu, Liying Jiao, Xiaojun Xian, Yingying Zhang, Jin Zhang. Method of Integrating Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Based Devices, Chinese patent, No. ZL 2006 1 0113214.5.
3. Erica S. Forzani, Nongjian Tao, Xiaojun Xian, Francis Tsow, Mouthpiece For Accurate Detection Of Exhaled Nitric Oxide, U.S. Patent, U.S. 9,931,055 B2, 2018.
4. Francis Tsow, Xiaojun Xian, Erica S. Forzani, Nongjian Tao, Portable Metabolic Analyzer System, US Patent, US 10,078,074 B2, 2018.
5. Xiaojun Xian, Devon Bridgeman, Francis Tsow, Erica S. Forzani, Nongjian Tao, Self-Contained Wearable Metabolic Analyzer, International Patent, Application Number PCT/U.S.19/55235, 2019.
6. Erica S. Forzani, Xiaojun Xian, Bhavesh Patel, Kelly McKay, Device and Method for Mitigating Aerosol Release from Nebulization, US Provisional Patent, Application Number: U.S. 63/073,437, 2020.
7. Won Jong Jung, Di Wang, Vishal Varun Tipparaju, Xiaojun Xian, Jingjing Yu, Kak Namkoong, Apparatus for Estimating Concentration of Biomarker, and Electronic System Having the Same, U.S. Provisional Patent, Application Number: U.S. 63/183,870, 2021.

Work Experience

• 2021-present, assistant professor, EECS Department, South Dakota State University.
• 2020-2021, associate research professor, The Biodesign Institute.
• 2011-present, vice president of product and production, TF Health Co.
• 2017-2020, research scientist, The Biodesign Institute.
• 2014-2016, associate research scientist, The Biodesign Institute.
• 2010-2014, assistant research scientist, The Biodesign Institute.
• 2009-2010, postdoctoral research associate, The Biodesign Institute.

Areas of Research

• Advanced Sensing Materials
  • Nano and Hybrid Sensing Materials:
    • Nanomaterials such as nanoparticles, nanowires, nanotubes, graphene and 2D materials are of high interest because their novel physical and chemical properties make them very useful in many applications including electronics, optics and sensors. To achieve certain functions, e.g. chemical or biosensing, a bottom-up approach is usually required to engineer the nanomaterials during synthesis, such as assembly, combination and grafting.
  • Hierarchical Colorimetric Sensing Materials
    • Traditionally, colorimetry is an analytical technique to determine the concentration of colored chemical compounds in solution through measuring the optical absorbance at a certain wavelength. To make the colorimetry compatible with the wearable platform, two important transitions need to be made: 1) from solution phase to solid phase; 2) from 3D configuration to 2D configuration.
• Wearable Sensing Technologies
  • Flexible Thin-Film Transistor Sensing:
    • Thin-film transistor (TFT) can be used to build flexible sensors for wearables. But conventional thin-film transistors are less tolerant to mechanical deformations such as bending and stretching, which limits their application in wearable electronics. TFT with nano-veneers-like structures can combine the structural continuity and processability of polymers with the high conductivity and functionality of discontinuous nanomaterials. These nano-veneers are particularly attractive in areas of TFT-based flexible sensors fabrication.
  • Colorimetric Array Sensing:
    • The colorimetric array sensing approach is a miniaturized and high-throughput chemical sensing platform for specific and sensitive detection of multiple analytes simultaneously. It configurates the flat LED light source, the sensor cartridge and the CMOS imager in a tiny “sandwich” structure for multiplex colorimetric sensing.
  • Micro Quartz Tuning Fork (MQTF) Sensing:
    • The micro quartz tuning fork (MQTF) based sensing platform can translate the analytes binding events into resonant oscillating frequency shift. It is attractive for developing miniaturized sensors because MQTF is intrinsically tiny, low-cost and highly sensitive to slight mass change. With the advance of film coating technologies, such as molecularly imprinted polymer coating, the surface of MQTF prongs can be modified to achieve high selectivity to different chemicals.
• Wearable Devices and Data Science
  • Wearable Device Design and Integration:
    • Wearable system design and integration requires interdisciplinary knowledge and teamwork. As one category of medical device, wearable healthcare devices development must follow the conventional process: concept phase, development phase, verification and validation phase. One needs to have deep understanding of the needs, the users, the technologies and the regulations to develop a successful medical device.
  • Wearable-Based Data Science
    • Wearable devices and their networks could capture and record continuous streams of health data about the patient. To make evidence-based clinical decisions, it requires to process large amounts of data to create new insights and build predictive models to guide personalized treatment. The scientific methods in data science offers effective tools for developing algorithms to extract knowledge and insights from the raw and unstructured data generated by wearables.