nicu baby with tubes coming out of his nose being held by a woman's hands

Tellus Therapeutics

MANAGEMENT: Jason Kralic
DUKE INVENTOR: Eric Benner
tellustheraputics.com

Tellus is a mission-driven company dedicated to developing safe and effective treatments for unmet needs in newborns.

Founded in October 2018, Tellus is translating breakthrough science licensed from Duke University in which compounds identified in breast milk induce the regeneration of myelin-producing oligodendrocytes and repair white matter injury (WMI) in an animal model of perinatal brain injury. Tellus’ goal for its lead asset (TT-20) is to provide a treatment for every baby born at risk for brain injury and improve neurodevelopmental outcomes for affected children.

Through the development of TT-20, Tellus is pioneering a regulatory path for ’First-in-Neonates” programs that leverages advances in clinical tools and regulatory guidance.

As a preclinical stage life sciences start-up company, Tellus is focused on planning, funding and executing development programs to demonstrate safety and efficacy of new therapeutic interventions in newborns. Tellus aims to leverage institutional support, non-dilutive funding, equity investment and patient advocacy to discover, develop and commercialize a pipeline of products that improve care delivery, outcomes and lives of patients and families.

Hydrean

DUKE INVENTOR: Michael Klien
hydrean.com

The Hydrean is a new mindful tool designed for use by anyone, anywhere, and anytime. Its tactile design and intuitive features help to guide your awareness towards intentional living. The Hydrean offers an instant sanctuary within you; a mental space to perceive, reflect, and contemplate the world anew. Let your fingers guide your perception and start to think differently.

How it works

A simple routine unlocks a hidden sanctuary within you.

Explore the Hydrean with your fingertip and feel the difference in elevation. There are three different types of intervals (grooves) all around the ring — short, medium, and long (1,2,3). You might also notice two longer elevations on opposite sides of the wheel, with each of them curving in opposite directions. Once you can identify these areas, start by placing a finger anywhere on the wheel and follow the directions below accordingly. Rotate your Hydrean in any direction to progress from one prompt to the next all at your own pace.

Deep Blue's new hernia mesh being held by a pair of gloved hands

FDA clearance for hernia mesh product approved for Deep Blue

Duke start-up, Deep Blue Medical Devices, has been approved to start selling their hernia mech technology after receiving FDA approval in August.  This novel product, developed by Duke plastic surgeon Howard Levinston, has enhanced anchoring strength that will resist wounds from gaping and bursting open.

Deep Blue developed the mesh to address the unacceptably high rate of hernia occurrence and recurrence. Millions of hernia surgeries are done globally with billions of dollars in clinical cost.  Their T-Line® Hernia Mesh with integral suture-like extensions is designed to eliminate a key point of failure for conventional mesh fixation – the mesh, suture, tissue interface – and to provide superior anchor strength.

Dr. Howie Levinson shows off his hernia mesh design to President Price. Deep Blue is addressing the unacceptably high rate of hernia occurrence and recurrence. Photo by Jared Lazarus/Duke Photography

Deep Blue has raised more than $800,000 in funding, with $295,000 raised August 2018.

In separate efforts, Levinson is working on additional projects including an anti-biofouling Foley catheter, a non-invasive light imaging technology to diagnose skin disorders, and tissue-engineered skin that resists contraction.

“Sewing a bit of each extension into the abdominal wall, in lieu of traditional sutures, significantly increases mesh anchoring strength and thus the durability of the repair,” Levinson says of the T-Line in an interview with WRAL Techwire. “We believe this approach will greatly improve patient outcomes without necessitating significant changes to current surgical practice.”

The firm says it plans to launch the T-Line at “selected sites” in the near future.

Precision BioSciences Announces Dosing of First Patient in Phase 1/2a Clinical Trial

-PBCAR269A Targets BCMA for the Treatment of Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma and is the Company’s Third Investigational Allogeneic CAR T Candidate Advanced to the Clinic –

-PBCAR269A is the First Off-the-Shelf Candidate Produced at In-House Manufacturing Center-

DURHAM, N.C., June 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Precision BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: DTIL), a clinical stage biotechnology company dedicated to improving life with its novel and proprietary ARCUS® genome editing platform, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase 1/2a clinical trial of PBCAR269A, its third allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy candidate. Wholly-owned by Precision, PBCAR269A targets the B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and is being evaluated for the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

precision_revised_logo_1_color

“PBCAR269A is our third off-the-shelf CAR T candidate to advance into the clinic; the second within the last two months. Despite the uncertain impact of COVID-19 on patients and the healthcare community at large, we maintained our focus and dedication that have enabled continued execution during the pandemic,” commented Matt Kane, CEO and co-founder of Precision Biosciences. “Notably, this will be our first study for which all clinical trial material will be produced at our in-house manufacturing facility.”

“There remains significant unmet need for a broadly available and well-tolerated treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory Multiple Myeloma,” said Chris Heery, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Precision BioSciences. “We are committed to improving the access of CAR T therapies for more patients. We appreciate the commitment of our clinical sites to start enrollment ahead of schedule, even during these difficult times, and the willingness of patients to take part in this trial.”

In preclinical disease models, PBCAR269A demonstrated potent in vivo clearance of BCMA+ tumor cells and overall tumor volume reduction, with no evidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Clinical trial material for this study is generated at the Company’s in-house Manufacturing Center for Advanced Therapeutics (MCAT) in Durham, North Carolina. PBCAR269A has received Orphan Drug Designation from the FDA for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

About the PBCAR269A Clinical Trial
PBCAR269A is being evaluated in a Phase 1/2a multicenter, nonrandomized, open-label, parallel assignment, single-dose, dose-escalation, and dose-expansion study to evaluate the safety and clinical activity of PBCAR269A in adults with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. The starting dose of PBCAR269A will be 6 x 105 CAR T cells/kg body weight. Subsequent cohorts will be treated with escalating doses to a maximum dose of 6 x 106 CAR T cells/kg body weight. The trial will be conducted at multiple U.S. sites. For more information, visit www.clinicaltrials.gov, study identifier number NCT04171843.

About Precision’s Allogeneic CAR T Platform
Precision is advancing a pipeline of cell-phenotype optimized allogeneic CAR T therapies, leveraging fully-scaled, proprietary manufacturing processes. The platform is designed to maximize the number of patients who can potentially benefit from CAR T therapy. Precision carefully selects high-quality T cells derived from healthy donors as starting material, then utilizes its unique ARCUS genome editing technology to modify the cells via a single-step engineering process. By inserting the CAR gene at the T cell receptor (TCR) locus, this process knocks in the CAR while knocking out the TCR, creating a consistent product that can be reliably and rapidly manufactured and is designed to prevent graft-versus-host disease. Precision optimizes its CAR T therapy candidates for immune cell expansion in the body by maintaining a high proportion of naïve and central memory CAR T cells throughout the manufacturing process and in the final product.

About Precision BioSciences, Inc.
Precision BioSciences, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to improving life (DTIL) with its novel and proprietary ARCUS® genome editing platform. ARCUS is a highly specific and versatile genome editing platform that was designed with therapeutic safety, delivery, and control in mind. Using ARCUS, the Company’s pipeline consists of multiple “off-the-shelf” CAR T immunotherapy clinical candidates and several in vivo gene correction therapy candidates to cure genetic and infectious diseases where no adequate treatments exist. Elo Life Systems is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Precision BioSciences also using ARCUS to benefit human health and wellness with novel food products that enhance the nutrition and diversity of global food supply. For more information about Precision BioSciences please visit www.precisionbiosciences.com.


About IonQ

We’re building the world’s best quantum computers to solve the world’s hardest problems.

We believe useful quantum computers will look as different from the laptops and smartphones we use every day as classical computers appear next to an abacus. And we believe the best way to build a quantum computer is by starting with nature’s qubit: the atom. Accurate, powerful, and flexible, ionized atoms are the heart of our quantum systems.

After decades of research, IonQ was founded in 2015 by Chris Monroe and Jungsang Kim with $2 million in seed funding from New Enterprise Associates, a license to core technology from the University of Maryland and Duke University, and the goal of taking trapped ion quantum computing out of the lab and into the market. The next year, we raised an additional $20 million from GV, Amazon Web Services, and NEA, and built two of the world’s most accurate quantum computers.

Phitonex Launches NovaFluor Dyes Enabling High-Res Analysis

Phitonex, Inc. launched their new suite of NovaFluor dyes today at CYTO2019, the 34th Congress of the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry, the largest industry conference in single cell biology.

Phitonex logo

New dyes developed on the NovaFluor platform were shown, which enable researchers to radically increase in the number of scientific questions they can answer, accelerating discoveries in biomarkers and treatments for life-threatening diseases.

“Our NovaFluor dyes address key unmet needs across the spectrum of cell analysis and help researchers answer substantially more questions per cell on extant flow cytometry instrumentation. We are incredibly excited to get our NovaFluor dyes into the hands of researchers and move forward with our game-changing InfiniFluor dyes,” said Michael Stadnisky, Ph.D, CEO of Phitonex.

Presentations describing the new dyes and the Phitonex platform technology were presented at CYTO Innovation and the Futures panel discussion by CEO Michael Stadnisky. Additionally, Phitonex won the CYTO Innovation Technology showcase based on its transformative technology, team, market opportunity, and business approach.

The Phitonex platform enables the deterministic engineering of optical properties to provide high-resolution analysis of single cells by flow cytometry, and in the future, other applications. Lower noise, less spectral overlap, and fluorescence-by-design means that Phitonex dyes immediately unlock a higher number of parameters across current instrumentation and provide unmatched cell population resolution to drive enhanced biological insight.

“By leveraging DNA as a structural tool, our platform technology allows us to customize fluorescent labels with a remarkable degree of flexibility,”  Craig LaBoda, Co-Founder and CTO said.

 

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

[Originally posted by Yahoo Finance — June 24, 2019]

Chip Lets Robots “Imagine” Their Actions Before Moving

Robots that can rapidly plan out their movements could accelerate factory automation—and help keep fragile humans safe.

Putting your hand in front of an industrial robot arm is not, generally, a good idea. These machines might move quickly and precisely, but they are so blind and stupid that they’ll gladly break a limb without so much as an “oops.”

realtime robotics logo

So it took a little courage to try this trick with a robot arm being tested at Realtime Robotics, a startup located in Boston’s Seaport neighborhood. I reached forward to intercept its movement as it grasped a widget from a table and moved to put it in a box. Thankfully, the robot paused, moved deftly around my outstretched arm, and then neatly deposited the item in its box. No broken limbs today.

This kind of graceful adaptability could prove incredibly useful for the robotics industry. There are some robots that can work alongside people, but they tend to be low-power, imprecise, and of limited use. The most capable, and powerful, industrial machines still have to work in very precisely controlled environments, away from soft, breakable humans.

“Even if you’re not worried about having humans next to the robot, you might want to modify your cell without incurring the cost of bringing in a technician,” says Sean Murray, a robotics engineer and cofounder at Realtime Robotics who showed me around.

The movement problem

A number of companies are trying to find ways around this problem. Some are testing sensors that will stop a powerful robots in its tracks if it spots an obstacle. Realtime Robotics is trying to go further, by giving robots the kind of low-level intelligence needed to move through the real world. This is the physical awareness that humans and animals take for granted whenever they move an arm or a leg.

In several different rooms at Realtime, industrial robot arms are testing the capabilities of a new chip that the company has developed to make this possible. When hooked up to 3D sensors, this chip lets the machines rapidly consider a range of different actions, effectively “imagining” the outcome, before choosing the one best suited to the task at hand. In one room, I watched as two robots performed balletic feats of teamwork, gliding around one another and occasionally handing over items.

“The fundamental challenge is that robots are so stupid,” says George Konidaris, founder and chief roboticist at Realtime as well as an assistant professor at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. “We have this basic motor competence and robots don’t.”

Motion planning is deceptively difficult for a robot, partly because each joint adds an extra dimension to the calculations that must be performed.

Make your move

The company’s chip supercharges the mathematical computations behind a relatively simple motion-planning algorithm developed by Konidaris and others while he was at Duke University. By running the computations in parallel, the dedicated chip can perform them more than 10,000 times more quickly than a regular computer chip, while also using less power.

“The approach is very clever,” says Tomás Lozano-Pérez, a professor at MIT who advised Konidaris when he was a graduate student.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

[Originally posted by MIT Technology Review — June 17, 2019]

ABOUT REALTIME ROBOTICS

We are transforming automation in its broadest sense by enabling machines to recognize, respond and decide how and where to move in milliseconds, even in variable environments. Our RapidPlan processor harnesses cutting-edge computer processing and software to end the trade-off between speed and safety that’s holding automation back today.

Enzyvant: FDA Acceptance of Biologics License Application

Enzyvant Announces FDA Acceptance of Biologics License Application (BLA) and Priority Review Status for RVT-802, a Novel Investigational Tissue-Based Regenerative Therapy for Pediatric Congenital Athymia

RVT-802, a one-time therapy, leverages Enzyvant’s T cell generation platform designed to treat profound immunodeficiencies

Left untreated, congenital athymia is uniformly fatal, with death typically occurring in first 24 months of life

Company to present at Roivant Pipeline Day in New York City on June 6, 2019

enzyvant logo

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & BASEL, Switzerland–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Enzyvant, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing transformative therapies for patients with rare, often fatal conditions, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing its Biologics License Application (BLA) for RVT-802, a novel investigational tissue-based regenerative therapy designed to treat pediatric congenital athymia, and granted Priority Review. Congenital athymia is a rare and deadly condition associated with complete DiGeorge Anomaly (cDGA), CHARGE syndrome, and FOXN1 deficiency. At this time, the FDA is not planning to hold an Advisory Committee meeting to discuss the application, and Enzyvant anticipates a regulatory decision in December 2019.

“We look forward to the potential of RVT-802 becoming available as an approved regenerative medicine to all families and patients who could benefit from it.”

Children with congenital athymia are born without a thymus, resulting in a severe immunodeficiency due to the inability to produce normally functioning T cells, which defend against infection and regulate essential processes in the immune system. Approximately 20 infants are born each year in the United States with congenital athymia, which is fatal if untreated. Death typically occurs in the first 24 months of life due to susceptibility to infection. Currently, there are no FDA-approved therapies for this condition. RVT-802 stimulates and facilitates the body’s production of naive, immunocompetent T cells, with the goal of bolstering the immune system and restoring the body’s ability to fight infection. Investigational RVT-802 is designed to be administered as a single treatment.

“We are proud to be advancing RVT-802, a regenerative therapy that embodies bold, transformative science. The intense urgency to treat infants and young children who would otherwise succumb to congenital athymia drew us to forge a partnership with Duke University and continues to motivate us to advance toward a potential approval with focus and speed,” said Rachelle Jacques, Chief Executive Officer of Enzyvant. “The long-term data for RVT-802 as a one-time treatment reinforces the potentially life-saving value and durable impact of this therapy. We are committed to working collaboratively with payers to establish a value-based reimbursement model that accelerates access for patients.”

The BLA filing for RVT-802 included clinical data that demonstrated long-term durability of treatment with RVT-802. At the time of the BLA filing, a total of 93 patients received RVT-802 across multiple clinical studies, including 85 patients who met the criteria for inclusion in the efficacy analysis. The Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival [95% confidence interval] at year one and year two post treatment were 76% [66 – 84] and 75% [66 – 83], respectively. For patients surviving 12 months post-treatment, there was a 93% probability of surviving 10 years post-treatment. During clinical development, the most commonly (≥ 5%) reported RVT-802 related adverse events included thrombocytopenia (11%), neutropenia (8%), pyrexia (5%), and proteinuria (5%).

“The journey of this therapy has involved the dedication and contributions of so many and, most notably, the bravery of patients and their families,” said Dr. Louise Markert, Professor of Pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine, whose pioneering work at Duke led to the development of RVT-802. “It is gratifying to see this therapy advance a significant step closer to a potential FDA approval. We are hopeful we can look to a future of continuing to save children’s lives.”

“We congratulate the Enzyvant team on this important milestone, as well as Dr. Markert and her colleagues at Duke for their remarkable scientific accomplishments and dedication to athymic patients and their families,” said Myrtle Potter, Vant Operating Chair at Roivant Pharma, and Chair of Enzyvant’s Board of Directors. “We look forward to the potential of RVT-802 becoming available as an approved regenerative medicine to all families and patients who could benefit from it.”

Ms. Jacques will be presenting at Roivant Pipeline Day in New York City tomorrow, June 6, at 4:20 p.m. ET. To request access to the webcast or to learn more about Roivant Pipeline Day, please email pipelineday@roivant.com.

About RVT-802

RVT-802 is a novel investigational tissue-based regenerative therapy designed to treat primary immune deficiency resulting from pediatric congenital athymia. In a healthy, functioning immune system, T cells that start as stem cells in bone marrow become fully developed in the thymus. RVT-802 is designed to replicate this process in the absence of a thymus.

Derived from infant thymus tissue, RVT-802 is processed and cultured prior to implantation into a patient’s quadricep muscle. The patient’s bone marrow stem cells migrate to the implanted tissue product, where they are trained to become naïve, immunocompetent T cells. With the renewed ability to generate T cells, immune system function can be restored.

RVT-802 has been granted Breakthrough Therapy, Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT), Rare Pediatric Disease, and Orphan Drug designations by the FDA.

In 2016, Enzyvant entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Duke University to develop RVT-802. M. Louise Markert, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine, has led research on the treatment of immunodeficiency in patients with congenital athymia. The findings of Dr. Markert and her research team have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine as well as numerous other peer-reviewed scientific journals and clinical publications.

About Enzyvant

Enzyvant, a wholly owned subsidiary of Roivant Sciences, is a biotechnology company focused on developing transformative therapies for patients with rare diseases. Enzyvant leverages the Roivant platform to develop therapies that address high unmet medical needs while driving greater efficiency in research, clinical development, and commercialization. The FDA has accepted Enzyvant’s Biologics License Application submission for RVT-802, a novel investigational tissue-based regenerative therapy for the treatment of congenital athymia and granted Priority Review. Enzyvant anticipates a regulatory decision in December 2019. The company is also preparing to initiate a clinical trial of RVT-801, an investigational enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of Farber disease. For more information, please visit www.enzyvant.com.

About Roivant

Roivant aims to improve health by rapidly delivering innovative medicines and technologies to patients. Roivant does this by building Vants – nimble, entrepreneurial biotech and healthcare technology companies with a unique approach to sourcing talent, aligning incentives, and deploying technology to drive greater efficiency in R&D and commercialization. For more information, please visit www.roivant.com.

About Roivant Pharma

Roivant Pharma is the biopharmaceutical business unit of Roivant Sciences. Roivant Pharma is focused on end-to-end biopharmaceutical company creation, launch, and oversight. Roivant Pharma companies include Altavant, Aruvant, Axovant, Dermavant, Enzyvant, Genevant, Immunovant, Metavant, Myovant, Respivant, Urovant, and Arbutus.

About Roivant Pipeline Day

Roivant Pipeline Day will be held on Thursday, June 6, 2019 in New York City. The event will feature presentations and Q&A sessions from executives across the Roivant family of companies highlighting new clinical data and investments in technology. The event is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. ET and will continue until approximately 4:30 p.m. ET. A live webcast will be available to interested parties. To request access to the webcast or to learn more about the event, please email pipelineday@roivant.com.

Contacts

Media:
Liz Melone
liz@scientpr.com

ORIGINALLY POSTED HERE

New Ag Tool: Plant Hormone that Speeds Root Growth

Scientists have identified a plant hormone, beta-cyclocitral, that makes tomato and rice plant roots grow faster and branch more. The hormone could help farmers enhance crop plant growth.

Biologist Examining Plant Roots

A molecule sold as a food additive has an underground role, too: helping roots grow faster.

When added to soil, the molecule, called beta-cyclocitral, speeds root growth in rice and tomato plants, scientists report May 8, 2019, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It also makes rice plants resistant to salty soil, which usually turns plants sickly and stunted. The molecule, a hormone found naturally in plants, could be a useful tool for farmers seeking healthier and more drought-resistant crops.

For centuries, plants have been bred for vigorous foliage and other easily visible traits. Because roots are hidden underground, “they’ve been largely ignored,” says developmental biologist Philip Benfey, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Duke University.

And yet, roots make up half the plant, points out coauthor Jazz Dickinson, also at Duke. She and Benfey wanted to find plant hormones that affected root development. Their previous research had hinted that some molecule chemically related to carotenoids – the pigments that give carrots their vibrant orange hue – might be important. But the researchers weren’t sure exactly which one, Dickinson says.

Many of these carotenoid relatives have been repurposed and are available commercially as food additives or dietary supplements. Dickinson rounded up about 20 and tested their effects on a common lab plant, Arabidopsis. She added each compound to the clear agar gel in which the plants were growing – a setup that let her easily see the roots – and monitored what happened over 10 days.

“Beta-cyclocitral stood out,” she says. It made the roots grow faster and also branch out more. And it had the same effect in rice and tomato plants, follow-up tests showed.

In rice plants, the team noticed an even more striking effect: the plants could also withstand salty soil. Irrigation of farm fields can make soil saltier, especially near the top. The team mimicked those conditions in the lab, and then watched how rice plants grew. “Untreated rice plants were very unhappy with that level of salt,” Benfey says. But with beta-cyclocitral added, the plants didn’t seem perturbed.

It’s possible that the compound helped the roots push down through the salty topsoil to reach the deeper, less-salty soil more quickly, Dickinson proposes.

The researchers hope that beta-cyclocitral will be useful agriculturally, either added to soil or sprayed onto crops. And since the molecule worked in both rice and tomatoes – two very different plants – it may boost root growth in crops more broadly.

[Originally posted by HHMI, May 9, 2019]

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

HARVEY Helps Move Bioprinted Organs Closer to Reality

Supercomputer code successfully models behavior of interwoven vasculature created with new 3D printing technique

Supercomputer code successfully models behavior of interwoven vasculature created with new 3D printing technique

With the help of a dash of turmeric and blueberry, bioengineers have developed a technique for 3D printing complex, interwoven vascular networks that mimic many of the movements and forces of those found in real organs.

The technique could help researchers understand how the flexing of entangled pathways for blood, air, lymph and other vital fluids affect each systems’ function and move the field closer toward bioprinting entire organs.

To better understand the forces and stresses at work in the new networks, the researchers turned to one of the world’s most sophisticated systems for computationally modelling blood flow. Developed by Amanda Randles, the Alfred Winborne and Victoria Stover Mordecai Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Duke University, HARVEY is a supercomputer code capable of simulating blood flow through the human vasculature down to the cellular level.

Led by bioengineers Jordan Miller of Rice University and Kelly Stevens of the University of Washington (UW), the research appears online on the cover of Science on May 3. It includes a visually stunning proof-of-principle—a hydrogel model of a lung-mimicking air sac in which airways deliver oxygen to surrounding blood vessels.

“One of the biggest road blocks to generating functional tissue has been our inability to print the complex vasculature that can supply nutrients to densely populated tissues,” said Miller, assistant professor of bioengineering at Rice’s Brown School of Engineering. “Our organs contain independent vascular networks—like the airways and blood vessels of the lung or the bile ducts and blood vessels in the liver. These interpenetrating networks are physically and biochemically entangled, and the architecture itself is intimately related to tissue function. Ours is the first bioprinting technology that addresses the challenge of multivascularization in a direct and comprehensive way.”

The new open-source bioprinting technology is dubbed the “stereolithography apparatus for tissue engineering,” or SLATE. The system works by printing a sequence of layers from a liquid pre-hydrogel solution that becomes a solid when exposed to blue light.

 

Read the full story here

[Originally posted by Duke Pratt School of Engineering — May 2, 2019]