Arkansas Engineer

The magazine of the University of Arkansas College of Engineering

Keith Roper

Donald K. Roper, associate professor of chemical engineering, and holder of the Charles W. Oxford Endowed Professorship in Emerging Technologies, has patented a process that reduces the time it takes to perform DNA analysis from hours to minutes. Roper’s process, which he developed while working at the University of Utah, uses gold nanoparticles to increase the efficiency of the polymerase chain reaction.