University of Maine associate professor of chemical and biological engineering Dr. David Neivandt has been called upon to lead the UMaine Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering by UMaine executive vice president for academic affairs and provost Jeffrey Hecker.

Neivandt replaces former GSBSE director and professor of molecular, biomedical and marine sciences Carol Kim who has recently been named UMaine’s vice president for research by President Paul Ferguson.

“[Neivandt] was the unanimous choice among the leadership team,” Hecker said.

“I am delighted to assume the role of director of the GSBSE,” Neivandt said. “These students are the future of the state of Maine, and of the nation — I am honored to serve both them and the University of Maine.”

GSBSE is a graduate program, led by the University of Maine, which grants doctorates to students here in Orono and five other academic and research institutes around the state, including: The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, the Maine Medical Center Research Institute in Scarborough, the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Salisbury Cove, the University of Southern Maine’s department of applied medical sciences in Portland and the University of New England’s college of osteopathic medicine in Biddeford.

Ph.D. degrees offered by the program include: molecular and cellular biology, biomedical engineering, bioinformatics and genomics, toxicology and neuroscience.

“[Dr. Kim]‘s left [the GSBSE] in a very strong position,” Neivandt said. “It’s a great program. It has a large number of extremely strong students, a highly dedicated and involved faculty and there are no major issues that need to be addressed.”

Neivandt said that one of the first things he will do — shortly after the program holds its annual meeting this week — is hit the road and visit each of the five other GSBSE institutes and meet separately with students, faculty and administrators.

“I want to find out what’s working, what’s not working, what could be improved and what I should not touch because it’s fine the way it is,” Neivandt said. “Until I get that feedback, I won’t be making any significant changes … There are some minor improvements I already have in mind and some administrative items that could be streamlined.”

For the past decade, Neivandt has been a principal member of UMaine’s chemical and biological engineering department, even when the two units were separate entities.

When he joined in 2001, Neivandt taught in the chemical engineering department, but within the past 12 years his department has merged with the biological resource-engineering department, started a program in biological engineering and replaced it three years ago with a brand new curriculum in bioengineering.

Neivandt is the current undergraduate coordinator for UMaine’s bioengineering program and, for the past three to four years, has devoted a bulk of his administrative work to establishing both the development and implementation of the new degree. On top of this, which he sees as his primary role in the department, Neivandt continues to teach courses in chemical engineering.

According to Neivandt, student numbers coming into the previous biological engineering program never exceeded a freshman class of about 14 students. This year, the class size is 43.

“[The program has] grown quite rapidly and I think it’s been extremely successful,” Neivandt said. “The students — at least from my perspective — really enjoy what they’re doing, and they all have great career prospects.”

With the additional duties of his new position, Neivandt said he may end up having to teach one fewer course per year in order to free up some time, but he’s confident that both roles will get adequate attention and full dedication.

“I believe I can continue doing what I do now, in terms of bioengineering, and still have a positive impact on the GSBSE,” Neivandt said. “I will do my utmost to continue to lead and further develop the bioengineering program, because I’ve invested so much into it … It’s such a successful program, and I would be doing the students and myself a disservice to step away.

“My intent is to continue, wholeheartedly, [as undergraduate coordinator] whilst taking over the leadership of the GSBSE.”

The GSBSE program, according to Neivandt, is very unique.

“One of the first things we have to do — when students enter this program — is get everyone on a level playing field,” Neivandt said. “The first year of the program is designed for all incoming students to take the same courses and get a base knowledge that covers various fields so they’re able to talk to each other and the faculty despite the diversity of their particular background.”

In order to avoid “little silos of people who don’t communicate,” Neivandt said it is important to ensure that everyone is brought to the same level.

“It’s a challenge in a very programmatically diverse system like this one,” Neivandt explained. “But, we work very hard in the 12 months so all students learn the breadth of knowledge they need to then work in an intellectual disciplinary environment.”

Because of this, Neivandt said, the program begins very modular. Three- to four-week sections are taught on specific topics so that, “if you’ve got an undergrad degree in molecular biology, you’ll have a good understanding of engineering by the end of this 12 month period to comprehend the connections between the two disciplines.”

As technology becomes more expansive, this helps both the students and the capabilities involved with research.

“It’s amazing how often you can pick out a solution to a problem from another area and re-task it to something completely different,” Neivandt said. “Having this interdisciplinary knowledge is absolutely critical.”

Neivandt is also the director of product development for UMaine’s Pulp and Paper Process Development Center.

He was an Oppenheimer Research Fellow in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry for three years before coming to UMaine, focusing on interfacial laser spectroscopy. He received a B.S. in chemistry with honors from the University of Melbourne in 1994 and continued there for his Ph.D. in the same field five years later.

Neivandt received the College of Engineering Dean’s Excellence Award in 2005 and 2010 and also the college’s Early Career Research Award in 2006.

His current research includes: “Determination of the Orientation and Conformation of Interfacial Species,” “Conformational Studies of Lipid Molecules Comprising Model Membranes” and “Polymer Templating in Surfactant Monolayers.”