SC9: MICROFLUIDICS AND LAB-ON-A-CHIP DEVICES FOR POCT: TECHNOLOGIES AND COMMERCIALIZATION

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21 | DINNER, 6:45 - 9:15 PM

Cabin John

ABOUT THIS COURSE:

This short course will provide an overview of microfluidic techniques, including valved and valve-less devices, pumped systems, and capillary flow approaches. Practical examples will keep the discussion grounded in the realization of commercializable devices. We will discuss engineering approaches to enhance the advantages and minimize the challenges. Throughout, the science will be linked to the commercial case for these devices, including a full discussion of a recent success story of a centrifugal microfluidic molecular assay system.

COURSE AGENDA:

6:45 Grab Dinner, Introductions, Course Begins

8:00 Course Break

8:15 Course Resumes

9:15 Course Ends

INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHY:

Kris Buchanan, CEO and Founder, Phase Three Product Development

Kris Buchanan is the owner and CEO of Phase Three Product Development which was founded in 2009. He has driven the development of many products while holding numerous engineering and product development positions in companies which produce products from consumer electronics to medical devices. After graduating with a Mechanical Engineering degree from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Mr. Buchanan worked as a young engineer in the computer hard disc drive industry in the 1980’s.  He learned extensively about designing and manufacturing high volume/low profit margin products. Mr. Buchanan has been awarded over 75 USPTO and international patents as inventor or co-inventor. These patents range from air filtration and spin motor design in the disc drive industry to bio containment, nozzle and flow cell designs for flow cytometry to patents in the microfluidics field. More recently, Mr. Buchanan has helped researchers develop designs and systems which allow “organ-on-chip” technologies to be developed and to prepare them for commercialization while also developing lab-on-a-chip technologies for continuous cell sorting. Phase Three has been instrumental in preparing microfluidics products for integration in water quality and food safety applications which cover cellular therapy, RNA detection, cellular analysis, and protein detection fields.

Evan F Cromwell, President & CEO, Protein Fluidics.

Evan is the founder, President and CEO of Protein Fluidics, Inc. Protein Fluidics provides protein analysis and immunoassay systems using microfluidics to accelerate data driven decisions in the laboratory. He has over 30 years of senior executive and technical expertise in numerous hi-tech industries including hard disk drive, semiconductor, telecom, and biotechnology. He has been involved in all phases of the design, development, and manufacture of systems for biological assays, materials analysis, optical inspection, and process control. Prior to Protein Fluidic, Evan served as the President and CEO of Blueshift Biotechnologies, a high-content screening and analysis venture that was acquired by Molecular Devices, a Danaher company, in 2008. At Molecular Devices, Evan led global technology development initiatives for novel Life Sciences products, directed an assay development group, and chaired the company’s scientific advisory board. Evan’s passion is integrating new technologies into products that provide unexpected value to customers in life sciences and other communities. Evan holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Caltech and earned his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. He has authored 40+ publications in the fields of biology, physical chemistry, and optical instrumentation and holds 16 patents.

Chris Myatt, Founder & CEO, MBio Diagnostics, Inc.

Dr. Myatt is the founder and CEO of MBio Diagnostics, Inc. He is an entrepreneur with a proven track record for building technology companies, securing patents and licensing technology, raising funding, establishing commercial operations, and leading through growth. Prior to MBio Diagnostics, Chris successfully founded and led Precision Photonics Corporation, a successful laser and optical technology supplier that is now a division of IDEX. Trained as a physicist and measurement scientist, Chris invented and developed multiple technologies that formed the basis of his companies. He earned a B.S. in Physics and a B.A. in Mathematics at Southern Methodist University. Chris also earned a Ph.D. in Atomic Physics at the University of Colorado. He studied Bose-Einstein Condensation under Carl Wieman (Nobel Prize, 2001), helping to create the first BEC condensate in the Wieman lab. He also studied quantum information under David Wineland (Nobel Prize, 2012) as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder.

Richard Spero, PhD, Co-founder, CEO, Redbud Labs

Richard is a co-founder of Redbud Labs. Since stepping into the CEO role in 2015, Redbud Labs launched its category-defining microfluidic components, MXR and STR. Under Dr. Spero’s leadership, Redbud has established its RTP manufacturing operations and attracted more than $9 million in funding. Previously, Dr. Spero served as Redbud’s Vice President of Product Development. He received his PhD and MS in Physics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his BS in Physics at Middlebury College.