D. Eric Aston, Ph.D.

• ChE 110 Introduction to Chemical Engineering
• ChE 326 Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics
• ChE 330 Separation Processes I
• ChE 393 Projects
• ChE H400 Microcosms & Nanotechnology
• Chem 404/504 Applications of Nanomaterials in Biomolecular Engineering
• ChE 404/504 Scanning Probe Microscopy
• ChE 404/504 Surface Instrumentation
• ChE 433/434 Chemical Engineering Labs I/II
• ChE 455 Surfaces and Colloids
• ChE 527 Thermodynamics
• ISEM 301 Discoveries and Inventions That Shape Society

• Colloids and Interfacial Phenomena
• Scanning Probe Microscopy
• Nanowires
• Adhesion and Thin Films
• Microfluidics and Chemical Sensors
• Polymers and Composites
• Nanotechnology

D. Eric Aston is professor of the U of I Chemical and Materials Engineering Department. Aston received his doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Washington (2001), working concurrently on his master's in physics (2000). He began teaching thermodynamics and separation processes at U of I in 2001, including labs in distillation and electives in colloids, interfacial phenomena, surface instrumentation, bionanotechnology, polymers and honors seminars on nanoscience and creative writing. His research in polymeric, magnetic and photoactive materials, bionanomaterials, biosensors and nanomechanics has been funded by the W. M. Keck Foundation, NSF, ONR, USDA and others. His current interests wax and wane from (micro-)Raman techniques and synthesis of conducting polymer nanopowders to biology and biochemistry, creative writing, ancient history, home remodeling and raising two children with his wife. Aston also received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from U of I in 1995.

Refereed/Adjudicated

Total of 60
‡ = corresponding author
* = students & postdocs

• Yergenson, Nathan*; Aston, David Eric‡, “Monitoring coffee roasting cracks and predicting with in situ near-infrared spectroscopy.” J. Food Process Engineering, 43(2): (2020). doi: 10.1111/jfpe.13305.
• Nwamba, O. Charles*; Echeverria, Elena*; McIlroy, David N.; Shreeve, Jean'ne M.; Aston, D. Eric‡, “Electrochemical Stability and Capacitance of In-Situ Synthesized Prussian Blue on Thermally-Activated Graphite.” SN Applied Sciences 1(7): 731 (2019). Submitted 18 Jan 2019, accepted 4 Jun 2019, doi: 10.1007/s42452-019-0713-z.
• Nwamba, O. Charles*; Echeverria, Elena*; McIlroy, David N.; Austin, Aaron*; Shreeve, Jean'ne M.; Aston, D. Eric‡, “Thermal modification of graphite for fast electron transport and increased capacitance.” ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2(1): 228-240 (2019). Published (web) 6 Dec 2018, doi: 10.1021/acsanm.8b01887.
• Nandanwar, Sachin U.*; Coldsnow, Kai*; Porter, Austin*; Sabharwall, Piyush; Aston, D. Eric; McIlroy, David N.; Utgikar, Vivek;‡ “Adsorption of radioactive iodine and krypton from off-gas stream using continuous flow adsorption column.” Chem. Eng. J. 320: 222-31 (2017). doi: 10.1016/j.cej.2017.03.020.
• Nandanwar, Sachin U.;* Dantas, Julia;* Coldsnow, Kai;* Green, Michael;* Utgikar, Vivek;‡ Sabharwall, Piyush; Aston, D. Eric. “Porous microsphere of magnesium oxide as an effective sorbent for removal of volatile iodine from off-gas stream.” Adsorption, accepted 5 Feb 2016, doi: 10.1007/s10450-016-9781-1.
• Nandanwar, Sachin U.;* Coldsnow, Kai;* Green, Michael;* Utgikar, Vivek;‡ Sabharwall, Piyush; Aston, D. Eric. “Activity of nanostructured C@ETS-10 sorbent for capture of volatile radioactive iodine from gas stream.” Chem. Eng. J., 287: 593-601 (2016, doi: 10.1016/j.cej.2015.11.091; Accepted 30 Nov 2015.
• Tantawy, Hesham Ramzy,* Fouetio Kengne, Blaise-Alexis,* McIlroy, David N., Nguyen, Tai, Heo, Deukhyoun, You Qiang, Aston, D. Eric.‡ “XPS Analysis for the Chemical Impact on Solvent Addition Rate on EM Shielding Effectiveness of HCl-Doped Polyaniline Nanopowders.” J. Appl. Phys. 118(17): 75501 (2015). Submitted 2 Jul 2015, revised 18 Sep 2015, accepted 25 Sep 2015. Impact factor: 2.183 (2014).
• Nandanwar, Sachin;* Coldsnow, Kai;* Utgikar, Vivek‡; Sabharwall, Piyush; Aston, D. Eric; Yanning Zhang.* “Synthesis and characterization of ETS-10: Supported hollow carbon nano-polyhedrons nanosorbent for adsorption of krypton at near ambient temperatures.” Adsorption , published online 31 Oct 2015, doi: 10.1007/s10450-015-9702-8.
• Gyan, Isaiah*; Wojcik, Peter*; Aston, D. Eric; McIlroy, David; Cheng, I. Francis.‡ “A Study of the Electrochemical Properties of a New Graphitic Material: GUITAR.” ChemElectroChem. 2(5): 700-706 (2015). Accepted 21 Jan 2015, doi: 10.1002/celc.201402433.
• Oriero, Dennis A.*, Gyan, Isaiah O.*, Bolshaw, Benjamin W.*, Cheng, I. Francis, Aston, D. E.‡ “Electrospun Biocatalytic Hybrid Silica-PVA-Tyrosinase Fiber Mats for Electrochemical Detection of Phenols.” Microchem. J. 118(1): 166-175 (2015). Available online 16 Sep 2014, submitted 2 Sep 2014, accepted 7 Sep 2014. Impact factor: 3.583 (2014).
• Tantawy, Hesham Ramzy,* Weakley, Andrew T.* Aston, D. Eric.‡ “Chemical effects of a solvent-limited approach to HCl-doped polyaniline nanopowder synthesis.” J. Phys. Chem. C 118(2): 1294-1305 (2014). Impact factor: 4.835 (2013).
• Weakley, Andrew T.*‡, Aston, D. Eric, Griffiths, Peter R. “Automatic baseline correction of vibrational circular dichroism spectra.” Applied Spectroscopy 67(10): 1117-1126 (2013).
• Tantawy, Hesham Ramzy,* Aston, D.E.‡, Smith, Jacob R.,* Young, Jeffrey L. “Comparison of electromagnetic shielding with polyaniline nanopowders produced in solvent-limited conditions.” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 5(11): 4648-58 (2013). doi: 10.1021/am401695p. Impact factor: 5.008 (2012).
• Aston, D. E.‡, Bow, Jacob R.*, and Gangadean, Dave N.* “Mechanical properties of select nanostructured materials and complex bio-nano, hybrid and hierarchical systems.” International Materials Reviews 58(3): 167-202 (2013). Impact Factor: 7.48 (2012), 7.149 (5-year).
• Xiaonan Lu, Qian Liu, Javier A. Benavides-Montano, Anthony V. Nicola, D. Eric Aston, Barbara A. Rasco, and Hector C. Aguilar‡ “Detection of Receptor-Induced Glycoprotein Conformational Changes on Enveloped Virions Using Confocal Micro-Raman Spectroscopy." Journal of Virology 87(6): 3130-42 (2013); doi: 10.1128/JVI.03220-12. Impact factor: 5.402 (2012).
• Timalsina, Yukta P.*‡; Branen, Joshua; Eilers, Jeremy*; Kengne, Blaise Alexis Fouetio*; Aston, D. Eric; Corti, Giancarlo and McIlroy, David N.‡ “The role of biofunctionalized silica nanospring surface for selective biosensing.” Advances in Biosensors and Bioelectronics 1(1): 1-10 (2012). ISSN Online: 2326-473X, ISSN Print: 2326-4705.
• Weakley, Andrew T.*; Warwick, P.C. Temple*; Bitterwolf, Thomas E.; Aston, D. Eric‡ “Multivariate analysis of micro-Raman spectra of thermoplastic polyurethane blends using principal component analysis and principal components regression.” Applied Spectroscopy 66(11): 1269-1278 (2012); doi: 10.1366/12-06588.
• Lu, Xiaonan‡; Weakley, Andrew*; Aston, D. Eric; Rasco, Barbara; Wang, Shuo; and Konkel, Michael‡ “Examination of nanoparticle inactivation of Campylobacter jejuni biofilms using infrared and Raman spectroscopies.” J. Appl. Microbiol. 113(4): 952-963 (2012); doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2012.05373.x. Impact Factor: 2.337 (2012).
• Lu, Xiaonan; Huang, Qian; Miller, William; Aston, D. Eric; Xu, Jie; Xue, Feng; Zhang, Hongwei; Rasco, Barbara; Wang, Shuo‡; and Konkel, Michael‡ “Comprehensive Detection and Discrimination of Campylobacter Species Using Confocal Micro-Raman Spectroscopy and Multilocus Sequence Typing.” J. Clin. Microbiol. 50(9): 2932-2946 (2012). doi: 10.1128/JCM.01144-12. Impact factor: 4.153 (2012).
• Aston, D.E., C.A. Berven, B.C. Williams, and A. Basu*‡, “Mathematical Analysis of Effects on the Electrostatic Double Layer of Nanoscale Surfaces in Microfluidic Channels.” The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering 90(4): 1059-1065 (2012); doi: 10.1002/cjce.20475.
• Weakley, Andrew T.*, Griffiths, Peter R.‡, and Aston, D. Eric, “Automatic baseline subtraction of vibrational spectra using minima identification and discrimination via adaptive, least-squares thresholding.” Applied Spectroscopy 66(5): 519-29 (2012); doi: 10.1366/110-06526.
• Oriero, Dennis A.*, Weakley, Andrew T.*, and Aston, D. Eric‡, “Rheological and micro-Raman time-series characterization of enzyme sol-gel solution toward morphological control of electrospun fibers.” Science and Technology of Advanced Materials 13(2): 025008 (2012); doi:10.1088/1468-6996/13/2/025008. http://stacks.iop.org/1468-6996/13/025008; Impact factor (2011): 3.513.
• Rastogi, Shiva K.*; Gibson, CharLene M.; Branen, Josh R.; Aston, D. Eric; Branen, A. Larry; Hrdlicka, Patrick J.‡ “DNA Detection on Lateral Flow Test Strips: Enhanced Signal Sensitivity Using LNA-conjugated Gold Nanoparticles.” Chem. Comm. 48(62): 7714-7716 (2012). doi: 10.1039/c2cc33430e. Impact factor: 6.169 (2011).
• Rastogi, Shiva K.*, Jamie M. F. Jabal*, Huijin Zhang, Charlene M. Gibson, Kevin J. Haler, You Qiang, D. Eric Aston and A. Larry Branen. “Antibody@silica coated Iron Oxide nanoparticles: Synthesis, capture of E. coli and SERS titration of biomolecules with antibacterial silver colloid.” J. Nanomedic. Nanotechnol. 2(7): 1000121 (2011). ISSN: 2157-7439, doi: 0.4172/2157-7439.1000121.
• Rastogi, Shiva K.*‡, Jamie Jabal*, Huijin Zhang*, Kevin J. Haler*, Charlene M. Gibson*, You Qiang, D. Eric Aston, A. Larry Branen, “Silica-coated Magnetic Nanoparticles (SMNPs): Capture and Identification of Escherichia coli Cells Using Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy.” NSTI Nanotech 3: 68-71 (2011), www.nsti.org, ISBN 978-1-4398-7138-6.
• Lu, Xiaonan*‡, Barbara A. Rasco, Jamie M.F. Jabal*, D. Eric Aston, Mengshi Lin, and Michael E. Konkel, “Investigating Antibacterial Mechanisms of Garlic (Allium sativum) Concentrate and Garlic-derived Organosulfur Compounds on Campylobacter jejuni Using FT-IR Spectroscopy, Raman Spectroscopy and Electron Microscope.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 77(15): 5257-69 (2011); doi: 10.1128/AEM.02845-10. Impact factor: 3.778 (2010).
• Oriero, Dennis A.* Jamie M. F. Jabal*, Lee Deobald, Andrew T. Weakley*, D. Eric Aston‡, “A Potential Enzyme-Encapsulating, Ultrafine Fiber for Phenol Detection.” React. Funct. Polym. 71(8): 870-80 (2011); doi: 10.1016/j.reactfunctpolym.2011.05.004. Impact factor: 2.479 (2011), 2.727 (5-year).
• Timalsina, Y.P.*; Branen, J.; Aston, D.E.; Noren, K.; Corti, G.; Schumacher, R.*; McIlroy, D.N.‡ “Alternating Current Impedance Spectroscopic Analysis of Biofuntionalized Vertically-Aligned Silica Nanospring Surface for Biosensor Applications.” J. Appl. Phys. 110(1): (2011); doi: 10.1063/1.3601521. Issue Date 15-Jun-11; Impact factor: 2.168 (2011), 2.278 (5-year).
• Cheng, I. Francis, Yuqun Xie*, R. Allen Gonzales*, Przemysław R. Brejna*,_, Jency Pricilla Sundararajan*, B.A. Fouetio Kengne*, D. Eric Aston, David N. McIlroy, Jeremy D. Foutch* and Peter R. Griffiths, “Synthesis of Graphene Paper from Pyrolyzed Asphalt.” Carbon 49(8): 2852-2861 (2011); doi: 10.1016/j.carbon.2011.03.020. Impact Factor: 5.378 (2011).
• Lu, Xiaonan*; Rasco, Barbara; Kang, Dong-Hyun; Jabal, Jamie Marie*; Aston, D. Eric; Konkel, Michael, “Infrared and Raman Spectroscopic Studies of the Antimicrobial Effects of Garlic Concentrates and Diallyl Constituents on Foodborne Pathogens.” Anal. Chem. 83(11): 4137-4146 (2011); doi: 10.1021/ac2001498; Impact factor: 5.856 (2011).
• Lu, Xiaonan*; Ross, Carolyn F.; Powers, Joseph R.; Aston, D. Eric; Rasco, Barbara, “Determination of Total Phenolic Content and Antioxidant Activity of Garlic (Allium sativum) and Elephant Garlic (Allium ampeloprasum) by Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transformed Infrared (ATR-FTIR) Spectroscopy.” J. Agric. Food Chem. 59(10): 5215-5221 (2011). doi: 10.1021/jf201254f. Impact factor: 2.823 (2011).
• Rastogi, Shiva K.*, Parul Pal*, D. Eric Aston, Thomas E. Bitterwolf, A. Larry Branen, “8-Aminoquinoline Functionalized Silica Nanoparticles: A Fluorescent Nanosensor for Detection of Divalent Zinc in Aqueous and in Yeast Cell Suspension.” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 3(2): 279-86 (2011); doi: 10.1021/am2002394. Impact factor: 4.525 (2011).
• Lu, Xiaonan*, Qian Liu, Di Wu, Hamzah M. Al-Qadiri, Nivin I. Al-Alami, Dong-Hyun Kang, Joong-Han Shin, Juming Tang, Jamie M.F. Jabal*, Eric D. Aston, Barbara A. Rasco, “Using of infrared spectroscopy to study the survival and injury of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Campylobacter jejuni and Pseudomona aeruginosa under cold stress in low nutrient media.” Food Microbiol. 28(3): 537-46 (2011); doi:10.1016/j.fm.2010.11.002. Impact factor: 3.28 (2011); online 13 Nov 2010.
• Pal, Parul*, Shiva K. Rastogi*, Charlene M. Gibson*, D. Eric Aston, A. Larry Branen, and Thomas E. Bitterwolf, “Fluorescence Sensing of Zn(II) Using Ordered Mesoporous Silica Materials (MCM-41) Functionalized with N-(Quinolin-8-yl)-2-(3-(triethoxysilyl)propylamino)acetamide.” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 3(2): 279-286 (2011), doi: 10.1021/am100923x; Impact factor: 4.525 (2011).
• Sai, Vemulakonda Venkata R.*; Gangadean, Devananda*; Jabal, Jamie M.F.*; Niraula, Ishwar*; Corti, Giancarlo; McIlroy, D.N.; Aston, D. Eric; Branen, Josh R.; Hrdlicka, Patrick J. “Silica Nanosprings Coated with Noble Metal Nanoparticles: Highly Active SERS Substrates.” J. Phys. Chem. C 115(2): 453-59 (2011); 13 Dec 2010 (ASAP); doi: 10.1021/jp109586f. Impact factor: 4.805 (2011).
• Sai, Vemulakonda Venkata R.*; Gangadean, Devananda*; Niraula, Ishwar*; Corti, Giancarlo; McIlroy, D.N.; Aston, D. Eric; Branen, Joshua; Hrdlicka, Patrick J. “Silica Nanosprings Coated with Noble Metal Nanoparticles: Highly Active SERS Substrates.” NSTI Nanotech 3: 19-22 (2010), www.nsti.org.
• Jabal, Jamie M.F.*, Laurel McGarry*, Abigail Sobczyk*, and D. Eric Aston‡, “Substrate Effects on the Wettability of Electrospun Titania-Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) Fiber Mats.” Langmuir 26(16): 13550-55 (2010), doi: 10.1021/la1017399, available ASAP (web) 20 July 2010. Impact factor: 4.186 (2010).
• “Highlight of 2010” by publisher choice: Timalsina, Yukta P.*, Dennis Oriero*, Timothy Cantrell, Tej Prakash*, Joshua Branen, D. Eric Aston, Kenneth Noren, James J. Nagler, Shiva Rastogi*, David N. McIlroy, and Giancarlo Corti, “Characterization of a Vertically Aligned Silica Nanospring-based Sensor by Alternating Current Impedance Spectroscopy.” J. Micromech. Microeng. 20(9): 095005 (2010); Impact factor: 2.276 (2010); doi:10.1088/0960-1317/20/9/095005.
• Gangadean, D.*, David N. McIlroy, Brian E. Faulkner*, and D. Eric Aston‡, “Winkler Boundary Conditions for Three-point Bending Tests on 1D nanomaterials.” Nanotechnology 21(22): 225704 (2010); Impact factor: 3.644 (2010), 3.979 (2011); doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/21/22/225704.
• Jabal, Jamie M.F.*, Laurel McGarry*, Abigail Sobczyk*, and D. Eric Aston‡, “Wettability of Electrospun Poly(vinylpyrrolidone)-Titania Fiber Mats on Glass and ITO Substrates in Aqueous Media.” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 1(10): 2325-31 (2009); Impact factor: 2.929 (2010); doi: 10.1021/am900481d, available ASAP (web) 9 Oct 2009.
• Corti, Giancarlo, L. Wang*, D. Major, J.* Branen, J. Jabal*, L. Branen, J. Nagler, E. Aston, G. Norton, and D. McIlroy, “Nanospring-Based Biosensors for Electrical DNA Microarrays.” In Functional Materials for Chemical and Biochemical Sensors, edited by E. Comini, P.-I. Gouma, V. Guidi, X.-D. Guidi, X.D. Zhang, Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 1010E: (2007), 1010-V05-03.
• Chen, Y.*, Ian Stevenson*, Rebecca Pouy* L. Wang*, D.N. McIlroy, Tyler Pounds*, M. Grant Norton, and D.E. Aston‡, “Mechanical Elasticity of Vapor-Liquid-Solid Grown GaN Nanowires.” Nanotechnology 18(13): 135708 (2007). Impact factor: 3.446 (2008).
• Chen, Y.*, B.L. Dorgan, Jr.*, D.N. McIlroy, and D.E. Aston‡, “On the Importance of Boundary Conditions on Nanomechanical Bending Behavior and Elastic Modulus Determination of Silver Nanowires.” J. Appl. Phys. 100(10): 104301/1-7 (2006). Impact Factor: 2.201 (2009).
• Withers, J.R.*, and D.E. Aston‡, “Nanomechanical Measurements with AFM in the Elastic Limit.” Adv. Colloid Interface Sci. 120(1-3): 57-67 (2006). Impact Factor (5-year ave.): 6.373 (2009).
• Invited Special Issue Festschrift for Editor Bob Rowell: Shanmugham, S.*, J. Jeong*, A. Alkhateeb*, and D.E. Aston‡, “Polymer Nanowire Elastic Moduli Measured with Digital Pulsed Force Mode AFM.” Langmuir 21(22): 10214-18 (2005).
• Doan, S.C.*, S. Shanmugham*, D.E. Aston, and J.L. McHale, “Counterion Dependent Dye Aggregates: Nanorods and Nanorings of Tetra (p-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin.” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 127(16): 5885-92 (2005). Impact Factor: 7.885 (2009).
• McIlroy, D.N., A. Alkhateeb*, D. Zhang*, D.E. Aston, A.C. Marcy, and M. Grant Norton, “Nanospring Formation: Unexpected Catalyst Mediated Growth.” J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 16(12): R415-R440 (2004), invited review. Impact Factor: 2.037 (2007).
• Dai, X.*, J. Boll, M.A. Hayes*, and D.E. Aston, “Adhesion of Cryptosporidium Parvum and Giardia Lamblia to Solid Surfaces: The Role of Surface Charge and Hydrophobicity.” Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 34(4): 259-63 (2004).
• Sun, C.*, D.E. Aston, and J.C. Berg, “Structural Evolution of Octyltriethoxysilane Films on Glass Surfaces during Annealing at Elevated Temperature.” J. Colloid Interface Sci. 248(1): 96-102 (2002).
• Aston, D.E., and J.C. Berg, “Thin-Film Hydrodynamics in Fluid Interface-Atomic Force Microscopy.” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 41(3): 389-96 (2002).
• Aston, D.E., and J.C. Berg, “Quantitative Analysis of Fluid Interface-Atomic Force Microscopy.” J. Colloid Interface Sci. 235(1): 162-69 (2001).
• He, M., A. Szuchmacher-Blum, D.E. Aston, C. Buenviaje, R.M. Overney, and R. Luginbühl, “Critical Phenomena of Water Bridges in Nanoasperity Contacts.” J. Chem. Phys. 114(3): 1355-60 (2001).
• Aston, D.E., and J.C. Berg, “Long-Range Attraction between Silanated Silica Materials Studied by an Electrolyte Titration with Atomic Force Microscopy.” Colloids and Surfaces A 163(2-3): 247-63 (2000).
• Irvine, J.A., D.E. Aston, and J.C. Berg, “The Use of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to Measure the Adhesive Properties of Sized and Unsized Papers.” Tappi J. 82(5): 172-74 (1999).
• Aston, D.E., and J.C. Berg, “Fluid Interfacial Separations for Secondary Fiber Recovery as Probed with Atomic Force Microscopy.” J. Pulp Paper Sci. 24(4): 121-25 (1998).
• Snyder, B.A., D.E. Aston, and J.C. Berg, “Particle-Drop Interactions Measured with Atomic Force Microscopy.” Langmuir 13(3): 590-93 (1997).

Peer Reviewed/Evaluated

‡ = corresponding author
* = students & postdocs

• Jabal, Jamie M.F.*, Anjil Giri*, Kurt E. Gustin, and D. Eric Aston‡, “Biocompatible Electrospun Titania-composite Nanofiber Networks for Whole Cell Sensing.” International Microelectronics and Packaging Society, 41st International Symposium on Microelectronics, submitted 5 Sep 2008, in print. Voted Best Session Paper.
• Erwin, Jim* and D. Eric Aston‡, “Modified Polypyrrole Nanowire Networks for Electrochemical Sensors.” International Microelectronics and Packaging Society, 41st International Symposium on Microelectronics, submitted 5 Sep 2008, in print.
• Aston, D.E.‡, and J.C. Berg, “Advances in Fluid Interface-Atomic Force Microscopy.” In Science, Technology and Education of Microscopy: An Overview. Vol. 2, A. Mendez-Vilas, Ed., FORMATEX: Spain, 2003, pp. 630-37, ISBN 84-607-6699-3.

Other

• Invited Contribution: D. Eric Aston‡, David N. McIlroy, Larry Branen, Shiva Rastogi, Joshua Branen, Giancarlo Corti, Patrick J. Hrdlicka, Kenneth Noren, and James J. Nagler, “Nanomaterials for Biosensor Platforms toward Increasing Safety and Shelf Life of Agricultural Commodities.” The World of Food Science, vol. 10: Sensors, available Aug 2010 online.
• Invited Chapter: Choi, Daniel, D. McIlroy, James Nagler, E. Aston, Patrick Hrdlicka, Kurt Gustin, Rod Hill, Deborah Stenkamp, and Joshua Branen, “One-Dimensional Silica Structures and their Applications to the Biological Sciences.” In Nanostructured Oxides: Nanomaterials for the Life Sciences. Challa Kumar, Ed., Vol. 2, Wiley-VCH, 2009, pp. 83-108; submitted July 2008.
• Invited Chapter: Aston, D.E., “Colloids and Colloidal Suspensions.” In Chemistry: Foundations and Applications. Lagowski, J.J., ed., Vol. 1, New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004, pp. 247-52.
• Stone, G.R.*, and D.E. Aston‡, “AFM for Membrane Analysis.” Pacific Nanotechnology E-Newsletter April 2003, available at <http://www.pacificnanotech.com/>.

• 2013 - present — Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Idaho
• 2007 - 2013 — Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Idaho
• 2002 - present — Adjunct Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Idaho
• 2001 - 2007 — Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Idaho
• 2000 — Adjunct Professor, Division of Natural and Social Science, Northwest University, Kirkland, Wash.
• 1995 — Resident Associate, Argonne National Laboratories — West, Idaho Falls, Idaho
• 1994 — Research Assistant, School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.

• Helping Orient Indian Students and Teachers (HOIST) program mentor, summer researchers 2003, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012.
• HOIST guest lecture and lab tours, June 2014.
• Mentoring Adjunct Faculty Dr. Arthur Miller, Gonzaga University and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), new instructor for ENSC 481: Nanotechnology Science and Engineering, Fall 2006, 2007.
• Legislator in the Lab, Idaho State Representative Shirley Ringo, Idaho-EPSCoR, Aug. 18, 2006.
• What Is Nanotechnology? Lectures and demos to 4 applied physics classes, Moscow High School, Pat Blount-instructor, 24 Feb 2006.
• ExploraVision Science Projects, project advisor, physical science classes, Moscow Junior High School, Kathy Dawes, instructor, November 2002, January 2006.
• Chemical Engineering & Nanotechnology, Lewiston High School, 4 chemistry and biology classes, 13 December 2004.
• Introduction to Chemical Engineering, Lapwai High School, biology, astronomy, and geometry classes, 12 May 2003.
• Future Problem Solvers, Nanotechnology, Moscow High/Junior High Schools, January 2003.
• Women of Engineering Day Lab Tours, Association of Women Engineers, University of Idaho, November 2002, 2003.
• Introduction to Chemical Engineering, Lewiston High School, 5 chemistry and physics classes, September 2002.

• President’s Mid-Career Faculty Award, U of I, 2014-2016
• Faculty of Excellence Award, College of Engineering, U of I, 2012-2014
• Alumni Award for Excellence, University of Idaho, 2008 and 2011
• Outstanding Researcher, College of Engineering, University of Idaho, 2007-08
• NSF MRI: “Acquisition of Confocal Raman, Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy (SNOM) System for Wet and Dry Materials and Devices,” PI D.E. Aston, CoPIs: P. Griffiths, M.-P. Laborie, A. McDonald, D.N. McIlroy, DMR-0619310, 09/01/06-08/31/07
• NSF NER: “Polymer Nanowire Chemical Sensors for Aqueous Media,” PI D.E. Aston, 7/15/05-6/30/07, BES-0507921.
• Outstanding Young Faculty, College of Engineering, University of Idaho, 2004-05
• W.M. Keck Foundation Engineering & Science Grant (w/ McIlroy et al.) 2003-06
• Victor K. LaMer Award Nomination, 2002, 2003, 2004
• Intel Foundation Fellow, 1998-99
• Weyerhaeuser Fisken Fellowship, 1996-97
• Alumni Award For Excellence, University of Idaho, 1994
• National Academy for Nuclear Training Scholar 1994-95
• Potlatch Foundation Scholar, 1991-95