Loyola University Chicago

Engineering

Faculty

Tom Johnson, PhD

Title/s:  Clinical Assistant Professor

Office #:  306 Cuneo Hall

Phone: 773.508.8743

Email: tjohnson48@luc.edu

About

Tom Johnson is a clinical assistant professor in Engineering with a specialization in the field of Biomedical Engineering.  Dr. Johnson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kentucky, a Master of Science degree in Biomechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois-Chicago.  Dr. Johnson's engineering career spans 3 industries over 28 years with primary achievements in developing and commercializing new products.  Before joining Loyola Chicago, he most recently worked at AbbVie, Inc. in the Science & Technology-Combination Products Group.  Prior to that, he held various positions in Manufacturing and R&D at Motorola, Baxter Healthcare and Hospira.

Research Interests

Dr. Johnson's primary research interests are in microfluidics and multi-physics modeling.  MEMS-based fluidic systems have been underutilized in new medical device products.  A barricade to entry for such current microfluidic devices is that the mechanical performance of these devices is not sufficient for most practical applications.  The need to appropriately modify the mechanical characteristics of these microscale devices is needed.  For the past 10 years, a focus of his research has been in investigating alternative materials that can be fabricated at such scales and achieve such performance.

Selected Publications

  1. Johnson, T., et al. "Current micropump technologies and their biomedical applications."  Microsystem Technologies, pub:  Springer Berlin/Heidelberg, vol. 15 number 5, May, 2009 p. 647-666
  2. Johnson, T., Amirouche, F., "Thermal Behavior of an Ionic Polymer Actuator for Microfluidic Control."  Proceedings of the Microfluidics 2006 Conference, Toulouse, France Dec, 2006
  3. Johnson T., Amirouche, F., "Multiphysics modeling of an IPMC microfluidic control device."  Microsystem Technologies, vol. 14 number 6, June, 2008 p. 871-879
  4. Automated point-of-care fluid testing device and method of using the same (US Patent 8,523,797) 2013
  5. Fluid flow rate compensation system using an integrated conductivity sensor to monitor tubing changes (US 8,858,185) 2014