Collin McKinney

Collin McKinney is currently the Director of the Electronics Design Facility at the Chemistry Department at UNC Chapel Hill. In this capacity, he leads a team of engineers and technicians in the research, design, and construction of instrumentation. Additionally, he directs the design of software used in a wide variety of disciplines, including electrochemistry, electrophysiology, NMR, mass spectrometry, ophthalmology, pharmaceutics, and laser particle analysis. Specifically, he directs the design and manufacture of instrumentation for the electrochemical measurement of neurotransmitter concentrations in the brains of freely-moving animals. This instrumentation, along with the popular HDCV software, is used in laboratories worldwide. He is also involved in systems design for miniature mass spectrometry, including RF sources, amplifiers, magnetics, and feedback control. In addition, he is currently president of two technology companies, M2 Innovations, Inc. and VoChor, Inc. and was previously a co-founder of startup companies Tracera and Biosystems Technologies. He holds 2 patents, has 1 book chapter and 16 refereed publications along with numerous posters and presentations.

Prior to coming to UNC, he was an Associate in Research in the Radiology Department PET Facility at Duke University Medical Center where he designed laboratory automation equipment, performed research in nuclear targetry and radiopharmaceutical synthesis, and assisted with ANDA submissions for new PET radiopharmaceuticals. Collin began his professional career as an engineer with the Digital Systems Division of Texas Instruments.