Dr. Ian Kennedy joined the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Davis in 1986 after a period as a Research Staff member at Princeton University and several years at the Aeronautical Research Laboratories in Australia.
He has developed a major aerosol research facility at the University of California, Davis in which efforts are directed at varied problems related to nanoscale particle synthesis and applications in technology.
A major thrust of his efforts is directed towards understanding the impact of ultrafine aerosol particles on human health. This interest is pursued via extensive multidisciplinary collaborations with colleagues in Environmental Toxicology, Land Air Water Resources, Veterinary Medicine, Chemistry and Civil and Environment Engineering.
This work studies the transport of ultrafine particles in tissues and organism by making use of nanophosphor materials that are excited with lasers and that emit long lifetime phosphorescence. He is also involved in applying nanoscale particles to detection technologies in biology and biophotonics e.g., using nanoscale phosphors as labels of biomolecules. This work involves collaborative research with colleagues in the Departments of Entomology and Internal Medicine.
Currently, he is working at implementing multiple immunoassays on top of a magnetic/phosphorescent nanoparticle. He is also exploring the use of these optically active particles in cancer detection and therapies with a colleague at the UC Davis Medical Center.
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