Muhammad Bilal is currently employed as a PhD candidate at Department of Chemical Engineering at NTNU. He is working on the cross-disciplinary project Nanobiotechnology - Nanomachinery for Sensing, Imaging and Targeting in Living Systems aims to synthesize and tailor-make nanoparticle-based systems for understanding complex phenomenon within living systems. The focus will be on developing quantitative chemical sensors for studying cell environments with an intention to map signals in cellular pathways. Efforts will be concerted towards tailoring nanoplatforms capable of multiple functionalities such as sensing, imaging, and targeting with an aim to use them as agents for understanding fundamental biology and in a plethora of biomedical applications.

He has background in biotechnology and molecular biology having master’s degrees in Molecular Biology (2016) and Biotechnology (2021). During his master’s at NTNU, he developed a robust biosensor for Covid-19 using functionalized gold nanoparticles. During his master’s in Molecular Biology, he worked on recombinant production of human Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4 (BMP4) in soluble form by using Small Ubiquitin-like Modifier (SUMO) fusion technology and further optimization of soluble expression.

Muhammad was also a part of the team responsible for production of NTNU’s Corona beads used for Covid-19 testing. Furthermore, he has three years of teaching experience at a secondary school.

Education

• 2021-Present: PhD in Chemical Engineering and Molecular Medicine, NTNU, Norway
• 2019-2021: M. Sc. in Biotechnology, NTNU, Norway
• 2014-2016: M. Sc. in Molecular Biology, University of Lahore, Pakistan
• 2008-2012: B. Sc. in Biotechnology, Forman Christian College University, Pakistan

Work Experience

• Jun 2020-Dec 2020: Summer Intern/ Staff Engineer at NTNU, Norway
• 2016-2019: Biology Teacher at Centre of Excellence, Govt. Pilot Secondary School, Pakistan