Workshop: Lab on a Chip for (Bio)analytical Chemistry
The workshop took place prior to ARF08, and was attended by around 30 delegates.
Introduction
Miniaturisation in analytical chemistry is drawing ever more attention and the number of universities active in this field is increasing rapidly. The Department of Chemistry at the University of Hull has a long established research record in microfluidic chemistry and as part of the Analytical Research Forum 2008 the Department offered a workshop on Lab on a Chip for (Bio)analytical Chemistry.
This workshop was aimed at PhD students and PostDocs who wanted to learn (more) about lab on a chip technology and its applications in analytical and bioanalytical chemistry. Newcomers to the field were able to gain a comprehensive overview; whereas researchers that already had some experience in working with microfluidic devices were able to update and broaden their knowledge.
Topics
Topics included:
- benefits and limitations of miniaturisation
- fluid behaviour in small channels
- how to fabricate and put together a lab on a chip
- applications in environmental, forensic and clinical analysis
General Information
The workshop began with dinner on Sunday 20 July at Thwaite Hall, University of Hull, followed by the first session with guest speaker Professor Joe Wang (New Mexico State University, USA). This session covered the advantages and challenges for lab on a chip technology and included a short group project on recent journal articles on the topic.
The workshop continued on Monday 21 July with lectures in the Chemistry Department, University of Hull. Attendees were then divided into small groups and were guided through six laboratories in the department where a demonstrator explained an experiment. This laboratory tour covered practical aspects including chip fabrication, chip based electrophoresis, chip based DNA analysis, handling of microparticles and cells inside lab on a chip devices and finally coupling of lab-on-a-chip devices to mass spectrometers for protein analysis.
