Abstract

Entrepreneurial Research: Tools and Techniques for Creative, Efficient Microfluidic Research Spanning Electrophoresis, Flow Control, and Real-Time Particle Image Analysis

Eric Cummings, Chief Technical Officer, LabSmith, Inc.

We tend to think of “research” and “product development” as separate enterprises: the former characterized by creativity, the latter by application. Yet successful, entrepreneurial researchers are expert at capitalizing on creativity while also optimizing for value, cost, and time.

A growing body of commercial equipment is available to help researchers develop creative solutions efficiently, with a clear path from test apparatus to fully-fledged product. In this talk we will discuss LabSmith products and tools for microfluidics research and product development.  We will show how this apparatus makes it easy to assemble and automate instruments spanning technologies such as multi-channel electrophoresis and dielectrophoresis, pressure, flow and temperature control, and real-time particle counting and characterization.  We will show how these resources help researchers create custom solutions that: produce robust results; apply affordable, broadly available apparatus to move research from test setup to prototype to product; and, take advantage of automation to reduce time and improve test efficiency.

We will provide examples in diverse microfluidic technologies that have been applied in academia and business with remarkable success.