Three seminars in microfluidics

Prof. Howard A. Stone 
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, USA

Capillary Rise and Thin Films Near Edges:
New Insights from Self-similarity

Abstract:

Traditional similarity solutions in course work and research typically involve nonlinear  equations with two independent variables: I will illustrate one “typical” problem and one unusual case involving three independent variables, where each example is illustrated by experiments and then rationalized with an analysis of the appropriate thin film equation. Finally, if there is time, I will make a few remarks about problems impacted by surfactants, which can also be analyzed, at least approximately, using self-similar analyses.  

Prof. David Kinahan 
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Dublin City University, Ireland

Laboratory Automation in Centrifugal Microfluidics
using Dissolvable Film Valves

Abstract:

This talk will describe the use of Dissolvable Film Valves to automate complex biological assays in a manner suitable for use at point-of-care. To best describe this technology, the talk will present data from a recently published paper ¹. This paper presented 'pulse actuated' dissolvable film valve which uses the architecture of the disc to determine the sequence in which valves open and a LOW-HIGH-LOW digital pulse in in the spindle motor to actuate the valve. This enables sample preparation, DNA extraction, and LAMP assay creation on a sealed disc using a packed column of acid washed beads for solid-phase extraction. LAMP amplification and semi-quantitative detection is also performed. Sample is processed in approximately 20 minutes followed by LAMP amplification / fluorescence detection.

Time permitting, the talk will also give a whistlestop tour of centrifugal microfluidic work in DCU including the application of the electronic-Lab-on-a-Disc system developed at KIT, low-cost imaging using wireless cameras, nucleic acid purification using two-degree-of-freedom centrifugal microfluidics, and cell manipulation using centrifugal microfluidics.

¹ Mishra, R., Julius, L. A., Condon, J., Pavelskopfa, P., Early, P. L., Dorrian, M., ... & Kinahan, D. J. (2023). Plant pathogen detection on a lab-on-a-disc using solid-phase extraction and isothermal nucleic acid amplification enabled by digital pulse-actuated dissolvable film valves. Analytica chimica acta, 1258, 341070.

Prof. Roland Zengerle
University of Freiburg and Hahn-Schickard, Germany

Cell handling, molecular diagnostics
and protein quantification

Abstract:

The talk will focus on three categories of microfluidic devices and/or solutions : 
•    Call and organoid handling instruments 
•    Molecular diagnostics at the Point-of-Care by centrifugal microfluidics
•    Absolut quantification of proteins and protein-protein interactions 

The presentation provides an overview of challenges, pitfalls, and success stories in trying to translate academic visions into successful products by fostering and founding spin-off companies : 
•    Biofluidix – now a Hamilton company (2005)
•    Cytena – now a BICO company (2014)
•    Spindiag – meanwhile insolvent (2016)
•    Actome – meanwhile insolvent (2017)
•    Cytena Bioprocess Solutions 
•    Dermagnostix (2020)
•    Endress+Hausser Bioscience (2021)
•    PICO BioScience (2025) 
•    and more to come 

Biography

 Howard A. Stone                       

© H. A. S.

Professor Howard A. Stone received the Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of California at Davis in 1982 and the PhD in Chemical Engineering from Caltech in 1988. Following a postdoctoral year in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge, in 1989 he joined the faculty of the (now) School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University, where he eventually became the Vicky Joseph Professor of Engineering and Applied Mathematics. In 1994 Professor Stone received both the Joseph R. Levenson Memorial Award and the Phi Beta Kappa teaching Prize, which are the only two teaching awards given to faculty in Harvard College. In 2000 he was named a Harvard College Professor for his contributions to undergraduate education. In July 2009 he moved to Princeton University where he is Donald R. Dixon ’69 and Elizabeth W. Dixon Professor in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Professor Stone’s research interests are in fluid dynamics, especially as they arise in research and applications at the interface of engineering, chemistry, physics, and biology.  In particular, he developed original research directions, using experiments, theory, and simulations, in microfluidics, multiphase flows, electrokinetics, flows involving bacteria and biofilms, etc. He received the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, is a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), and is past Chair of the Division of Fluid Dynamics of the APS. For ten years he served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Fluid Mechanics, and is currently on the editorial or advisory boards of Physical Review Fluids, Langmuir, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, and Soft Matter, and is co-editor of the Soft Matter Book Series.  Professor Stone is the first recipient of the G.K. Batchelor Prize in Fluid Dynamics, which was awarded in August 2008, and the 2016 recipient of the Fluid Dynamics Prize of the APS. He has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (2009), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2011), the National Academy of Sciences (2014), the Royal Society (United Kingdom) as a Foreign Member (2022), and the American Philosophical Society (2022).

David Kinahan                       

© D.K.

David Kinahan is an Assistant Professor in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering since October 2018. David completed a BEng in Aeronautical Engineering (2003) and a PhD (2008) at University of Limerick (UL). His PhD focused on high-throughput droplet microfluidics for DNA analysis. In late 2007 David joined Stokes Bio Ltd, a spin-out from UL, as a Senior Engineer, and was later promoted to Engineering Manager leading a team of 10 engineers. In January 2012 David joined the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute  in DCU and since then has applied microfluidics to a wide range of application areas including human health (HIV diagnostics, CTC detection, CVD diagnostics, liver disease, early detection of bacterial meningitis) and point-of-use testing (plant pathogen detection, environmental monitoring etc). From January 2017 until October 2018 David was a Group Leader within Fraunhofer Project Center at Dublin City University (FPC@DCU).

Roland Zengerle                   

© R.Z.

Born in 1965, Professor Roland Zengerle studied physics at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. From 1990 to 1995 he was a research engineer at the Fraunhofer-Institute of Solid State Technology in Munich (today: Fraunhofer EMFT). In 1994 Prof. Zengerle received a PhD degree for his thesis on the development of an electrostatically driven micropump. In 1995 he accepted a position as head of the microfluidics department at the Institut für Mikro- und Informationstechnik of the Hahn-Schickard-Gesellschaft in Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany. Since 1999 Prof. Zengerle is full professor at the Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) at the University of Freiburg, Germany. His laboratory named Laboratory for MEMS Applications is a foundation of industry in order to stimulate the cooperation between industry and academic research. Since 2005 Prof. Zengerle is co-director of Hahn-Schickard having branches in Villingen-Schwenningen and Freiburg. Hahn-Schickard is a non-profit organization supporting industry in developing new products based on MEMS technologies. Since October 2007 Prof. Zengerle is member of the “BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies” at the University of Freiburg.

The research of Prof. Zengerle and his team is focused on microfluidics and specializes in

• lab-on-a-chip systems
• contact-free microdosage technologies and applications
• miniaturized and implantable drug delivery systems
• analysis and modeling of porous electrodes in batteries and fuel cells
• biofuel cells

Prof. Zengerle is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina) and is/was involved in the steering committees of several national and international conferences, such as IEEE-MEMS (2001 – 2009), Transducers (since 2012) and MicroTAS. He was also the founder of the bi-annual national MEMS conference series in Germany and he also co-founded the Springer Journal of Microfluidics and Nanofluidics (impact factor 2012: ~ 3.2).

Contact : Professor Tristan GILET ,  Ali Gholizadeh, Microfluidics Lab

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