We are proud to announce Chemistry PhD candidate Roberto Aguilar Ayala has received the UNT 2017 Innovator award! The award recognizes students for finding creative solutions to today's most pressing issues. The award includes a scholarship and recognition at an award ceremony on August 25th.

Roberto is a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry and biochemistry. Aguilar Ayala works on nanoparticle deposition technologies in the lab of Guido Verbeck, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry and a member of UNT's BioDiscovery Institute. Working across two vastly different fields − criminal forensics and biotechnology, Aguilar Ayala is innovating how UNT graduate students approach their academic studies and how their research can be used in industry through technology transfer. By using advanced design, Aguilar Ayala has approached his research innovatively from ground level concepts to a completed polished system, which allows the technology to be open to multiple commercial applications as it moves from theory to practical solutions. His creative research approach allows commercial engineering to create a viable product for clinical, research and forensic practitioners.

Congratulations, Roberto!