Govind Rao

CAST FACULTY

Professor, UMBC and Director, CAST

 

Govind Rao is Professor of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering and Director of the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. His Ph.D. degree was from Drexel University in Chemical Engineering. He has been a faculty member at UMBC since 1987.

KNOWN FOR

Bio‑MOD  $200 Infant Incubator  Optical Bioprocess Sensors

Email  Google Scholar

 Govind Rao

Signature Work ↓  Publications ↓

IN HIS WORDS

“The goal is to replace an acre-sized plant … with a suitcase sized device.”

Govind Rao, in UMBC Magazine

SIGNATURE WORK

Global Impact

 
The CAST team with the Mini-BioMOD system at the FDA

01  MEDICINES ON DEMAND

Bio-MOD

A suitcase-sized, automated system that makes therapeutic-grade protein medicines close to where patients need them. Cell-free protein synthesis and in-line purification take the place of a large central factory.

Hours  not months, to make a batch of medicine

02  CARE FOR EVERY PATIENT

$200 Infant Incubator

A low-cost incubator that keeps preterm babies warm in places where standard equipment is out of reach. In a randomized clinical trial in India, it performed as well as a standard incubator.

$200  vs. $1,500–35,000 for a standard incubator
Prototype of the low-cost cardboard infant incubator
Aero-Yield breathable shake flask

03  BETTER BIOPROCESS MONITORING

Breathable Shake Flask

A shake flask with a gas-permeable wall that lets oxygen in and carbon dioxide out, so cells grow better in an ordinary shaker. The flask is now sold as Aero-Yield by CAST spin-off Sensors and Artificial Intelligence LLC.

+115%  protein yield over a standard flask

ALSO FROM HIS LAB

Optical Sensor Patches  Noninvasive Flow Cell  Transdermal CO2 Alarm  Cell‑Free Insulin

Selected Publications

 

14,600+  citations on Google Scholar

MOST CITED

1993
Altman SA, Randers L, Rao G
BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS · 9:671–674
2001
Kostov Y, Harms P, Randers-Eichhorn L, Rao G
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING · 72:346–352

LATEST

2026
Kumar V, Sundberg C, Srinivasan V, Thole A, Tolosa M, Rao G
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING
2025
Kadolkar R, Kumar V, Thole A, … Rao G
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING · 122:3249–3265

Full list on Google Scholar →