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| <h2>Community Engagement</h2><br> | | <h2>Community Engagement</h2><br> |
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− | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/2/22/Stem-pathways-logo-white-1x.png" width=" 300px"><br> | + | <h2> Summer Pathways</h2> |
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− | On July 12th 2017 the BostonU Hardware team was able to participate in Summer Pathways, an event put on by STEM Pathways. This event aims to expose and engage high school girls in synthetic biology. Our activity aimed to give the students a basic explanation of microfluidics and then push them to test this understanding through designing their own synbio chip using cardboard primitives. | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/2/22/Stem-pathways-logo-white-1x.png" width=" 400px" align="right" style="margin:0px 50px 0px 50px">On July 12th 2017 the BostonU Hardware team was able to participate in Summer Pathways, an event put on by STEM Pathways. This event aims to expose and engage high school girls in synthetic biology. Our activity aimed to give the students a basic explanation of microfluidics and then push them to test this understanding through designing their own synbio chip using cardboard primitives. |
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− | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/4/49/Bg_company_logo_300_200_imagesmadeuploadscompaniesPhenmyx_JPG_300_59.jpg_300_200_100_c_c_c1.jpg"><br> | + | <h2>Phenomyx</h2> |
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− | During the course of the Fall semester the team also had to opportunity to tour Phenomyx, a microfludics startup located at LabCentral in Boston. The tour was led by Salil Desai, their founder and Chief Technology Officer, who took us through their fabrication and testing space. During the course of the tour we were able to learn from his industry experience in microfluidic devices. | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/4/49/Bg_company_logo_300_200_imagesmadeuploadscompaniesPhenmyx_JPG_300_59.jpg_300_200_100_c_c_c1.jpg" width=" 400px" align="right" style="margin:0px 50px 0px 50px">During the course of the Fall semester the team also had to opportunity to tour Phenomyx, a microfludics startup located at LabCentral in Boston. The tour was led by Salil Desai, their founder and Chief Technology Officer, who took us through their fabrication and testing space. During the course of the tour we were able to learn from his industry experience in microfluidic devices. |
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− | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/7/73/Aline.png" width="300px"><br> | + | <h2>Aline</h2> |
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− | Over the summer we were able to connect with the team at Aline, a rapid prototyping and microfluidics engineering firm located in California. Over a conference call we pitched our initial project description and goals to their team, and were able to receive feedback on areas such as metering, primitive design and our repository design. We were also able to learn more about their microfluidics systems, for example their take on volume dispensing on a chip. Although we were not able to integrate their system into our existing workflow, it offered an alternative method of metering using external systems. During the call the possibility of integrating multiple flow layers into our chips was discussed in detail. While we are not equipped to create multi-layer chips at this time, we are excited to explore this area in microfluidics further in the near future. | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/7/73/Aline.png" width=" 400px" align="right" style="margin:0px 50px 0px 50px">Over the summer we were able to connect with the team at Aline, a rapid prototyping and microfluidics engineering firm located in California. Over a conference call we pitched our initial project description and goals to their team, and were able to receive feedback on areas such as metering, primitive design and our repository design. We were also able to learn more about their microfluidics systems, for example their take on volume dispensing on a chip. Although we were not able to integrate their system into our existing workflow, it offered an alternative method of metering using external systems. During the call the possibility of integrating multiple flow layers into our chips was discussed in detail. While we are not equipped to create multi-layer chips at this time, we are excited to explore this area in microfluidics further in the near future. |
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− | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/thumb/3/32/Fraun.jpeg/1200px-Fraun.jpeg" width="300px"><br> | + | <h2>Fraunhofer</h2> |
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− | During the last weeks of summer we had the opportunity to tour the Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing Innovation located on BU’s campus. Through this tour we were able to better understand how they approached designing and implementing microfluidic technology for research purposes, and how this translated to mass manufacturing. We were able to see chips housed on-site such as a rapid diagnostics chip for septicemia and a PCR chip being designed for mass scale manufacturing. | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/thumb/3/32/Fraun.jpeg/1200px-Fraun.jpeg" width=" 400px" align="right" style="margin:0px 50px 0px 50px">During the last weeks of summer we had the opportunity to tour the Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing Innovation located on BU’s campus. Through this tour we were able to better understand how they approached designing and implementing microfluidic technology for research purposes, and how this translated to mass manufacturing. We were able to see chips housed on-site such as a rapid diagnostics chip for septicemia and a PCR chip being designed for mass scale manufacturing. |
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− | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/c/cc/Dolomite-168x221.png"width=" 300px"><br> | + | <h2>Blacktrace - Dolomite </h2> |
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− | Blacktrace are a company involved with designing and manufacturing modular microfluidics for research and industry. Our conversation with them revolved around how they approached quality control, as well as what types of problems they encountered when handing off microfluidics to consumers. | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/c/cc/Dolomite-168x221.png" width=" 400px" align="right" style="margin:0px 50px 0px 50px">Blacktrace are a company involved with designing and manufacturing modular microfluidics for research and industry. Our conversation with them revolved around how they approached quality control, as well as what types of problems they encountered when handing off microfluidics to consumers. |
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| This led to an in depth conversation regarding the types of educational materials they have designed for first time microfluidics users. If a complex microfluidics setup is being installed in a lab, Blacktrace typically hosts a two day training seminar covering the basics of using and maintaining the hardware. For smaller scale chips and devices, they include detailed information in the form of manuals and web support. | | This led to an in depth conversation regarding the types of educational materials they have designed for first time microfluidics users. If a complex microfluidics setup is being installed in a lab, Blacktrace typically hosts a two day training seminar covering the basics of using and maintaining the hardware. For smaller scale chips and devices, they include detailed information in the form of manuals and web support. |
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− | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/5/51/Retinabhl.png" width="300px"><br> | + | <h2>Black Hole Lab</h2> |
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− | Over the summer we were also in contact with Black Hole Lab who manufacture plug and play microfluidics for researchers. As we were in the beginning stages of fabrication, our questions for them were mainly in regards to manufacturing chips and what standards they recommended in order to ensure quality control. What we were able to learn is that at the moment there are no specific “industry standard” when working in microfluidics. Quality control guidelines can be built around manufacturing methods and depend on quantifiable parameters. Through building an evaluation system for our workflow, we would be able to introduce a microfluidics “standard” for research purposes. This impacts the existing field through allowing researchers to better document, evaluate and standardise their devices. | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/5/51/Retinabhl.png" width=" 400px" align="right" style="margin:0px 50px 0px 50px">Over the summer we were also in contact with Black Hole Lab who manufacture plug and play microfluidics for researchers. As we were in the beginning stages of fabrication, our questions for them were mainly in regards to manufacturing chips and what standards they recommended in order to ensure quality control. What we were able to learn is that at the moment there are no specific “industry standard” when working in microfluidics. Quality control guidelines can be built around manufacturing methods and depend on quantifiable parameters. Through building an evaluation system for our workflow, we would be able to introduce a microfluidics “standard” for research purposes. This impacts the existing field through allowing researchers to better document, evaluate and standardise their devices. |
| </div> | | </div> |
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