Dr. Megan Engel

Biography

Megan completed her DPhil in theoretical physics at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Her research, pursued in collaboration with DNA nanotechologists, explored biological self-assembly, the process by which proteins and nucleic acids can build themselves from one-dimensional strands of building blocks into functional three-dimensional shapes. As a Schmidt Science Fellow, Megan worked with Michael Brenner at Harvard University to apply machine learning techniques to study non-equilibrium biological systems. As an assistant Professor at the U of C, Megan works to improve our understanding of how nature has harnessed the laws of physics to drive processes like robust self-assembly and molecular energy transduction, ultimately leading to better rational design of synthetic, self-assembling nanomachines.