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| <h1 class="title text-center">Understanding Microfluidics</h1> | | <h1 class="title text-center">Understanding Microfluidics</h1> |
− | The key goal of MARS is to make microfluidics as accessible and and understandable as possible to the synbio community. From our poll results it was obvious that most people had not heard of microfluidics before or only had a limited understanding of their application in a lab. This highlighted the need for more education on our hardware and created the perfect basis for our human practices and public outreach. | + | The key goal of MARS is to make microfluidics as accessible and understandable as possible to the synbio community. From our poll results it was obvious that most people had not heard of microfluidics before or only had a limited understanding of their application in a lab. This highlighted the need for more education on our hardware and created the perfect basis for our human practices and public outreach. |
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− | During this time we were also able to ask the students what opinions or thoughts they had regarding microfluidics and their applications in the wider world. Many students were intrigued by the possibility of automating basic experiments they performed in class as well as applications in medical diagnostics, chemistry and pharmaceuticals. Some students were curious about our manufacturing process and how we were able to prototype and fabricate chips at a fast rate. After hearing our breakdown of the process and the relative prices of our equipment, some girls were excited about the possibility of setting up a chip manufacturing space in their high school. The student’s excitement about our hardware and its various potential applications illustrated to us how our project can go on to impact synthetic biologists in the future. | + | During this time, we were also able to ask the students what opinions or thoughts they had regarding microfluidics and their applications in the wider world. Many students were intrigued by the possibility of automating basic experiments they performed in class as well as applications in medical diagnostics, chemistry and pharmaceuticals. Some students were curious about our manufacturing process and how we were able to prototype and fabricate chips at a fast rate. After hearing our breakdown of the process and the relative prices of our equipment, some girls were excited about the possibility of setting up a chip manufacturing space in their high school. The student’s excitement about our hardware and its various potential applications illustrated to us how our project can go on to impact synthetic biologists in the future. |
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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" 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. | + | <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 microfluidics 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/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. | + | <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=" 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. | | <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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| Throughout the conversation, Blacktrace stressed the importance of easy to understand educational materials and gave a few suggestions regarding what we should include in our own project. What we were able to take away from this outreach was the relevance of our first MARS branch, Microfluidics 101. Providing this easy to access information for anyone interested in microfluidics would be positively impacting the synthetic biology community but also the scientific community at large. Especially when we have coupled it to our rapid prototyping and manufacturing methods. | | Throughout the conversation, Blacktrace stressed the importance of easy to understand educational materials and gave a few suggestions regarding what we should include in our own project. What we were able to take away from this outreach was the relevance of our first MARS branch, Microfluidics 101. Providing this easy to access information for anyone interested in microfluidics would be positively impacting the synthetic biology community but also the scientific community at large. Especially when we have coupled it to our rapid prototyping and manufacturing methods. |