Megan Engel

Megan completed her DPhil in theoretical physics at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Her research, pursued in collaboration with DNA nanotechnologists, explored biological self-assembly, the process by which proteins and nucleic acids build themselves from one-dimensional strands of building blocks into functional three-dimensional shapes. As a Schmidt Science Fellow, Megan worked with Michael Brenner at Harvard University to apply machine learning techniques to the study of non-equilibrium biological systems. As an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary, Megan works to improve our understanding of how nature has harnessed the laws of physics to drive processes like robust self-assembly and molecular energy transduction, ultimately leading to better rational design of synthetic, self-assembling nanomachines.