As technologies mature, they are incorporated into product applications, and as applications mature, standards often evolve around them. The development of standards serves the purposes of convenience and safety for both the user and bystander, and standards can be driven by industry and supported by governments. Microtiter plate standards are a prominent example for lab-on-a-chip and organ-on-a-chip, but further harmonisation is likely as microfluidic products become more ‘mainstream’. Other challenge areas for microfluidics are also increasingly important, such as biocompatibility in more complex assays, and improved quality control capabilities to address advanced device requirements.
This workshop, organised by the Microfluidics Association (MFA), aims to look at the current state of standardised approaches, as well as other challenges, in microfluidics product development and manufacture. Our speakers will tell us about what their organisations do, and how they address standardisation and other challenges to facilitate the development and manufacturing of microfluidic products. We will also hold a brief panel discussion where speakers and participants can discuss these topics, and suggest new ones that the community should address.
The workshop will feature talks from the following microfluidics industry leaders from the MFA and beyond. We will include a hands-on session to look at products offered by some of our industry participants.
- Chair: John Crabtree, HJC Consulting Inc., Canada
- Claudia Gärtner, microfluidic ChipShop GmbH, Germany
- Greg Cooksey, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), USA
- Bruno Ribeiro, Fluigent S.A., France
- Paul Marshall, Rapid Fluidics Ltd., UK
- Julian Alberni, Trouvera Labs LLC, USA