ENME 808E / 489E Tu/Th 3:30-4:45 Instructor: Prerequisites: None Web Site: http://mems.umd.edu/labchip |
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Overview: Lab-on-a-chip technology has emerged as an important field with a significant and growing impact on research areas including the life sciences, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, clinical diagnostics, chemistry, and chemical engineering. While the design and fabrication of lab-on-a-chip and microfluidic systems remains the domain of the mechanical engineer, understanding the interactions between the mechanical, electrical, optical, chemical, and biological domains within these systems is essential to their successful development.
This course presents the fundamentals and application of lab-on-a-chip and microfluidic technologies. The course goals are to provide the student with a broad view of the field of microfluidics, knowledge of relevant fabrication methods and analysis techniques, and an understanding of the coupled multi-domain phenomena that dominate the physics in these systems. Lab-on-a-chip and microfluidic systems for biomolecular and cellular analysis will be emphasized, including principles of microfluidic fabrication techniques, transport processes and flow control, molecular separations, and on-chip detection methods. Students will be introduced to basic biological concepts at the protein, nucleic acid, and cellular levels, and applications of microfluidic systems to the analysis of these components will be discussed.
Experimental aspects of lab-on-a-chip systems will be emphasized. Students will gain hands-on experience with the fabrication and testing of microfluidic systems based on soft lithography techniques. The course culminates with a project in which students demonstrate the design, fabrication, and characterization of a specific lab-on-a-chip technology selected in consultation with the instructor.
Lab-on-a-Chip Microsystem Engineering is offered as a combined advanced topics graduate class and undergraduate elective -- undergraduate students interested in learning about the application of mechanical engineering principles to the design, fabrication, and characterization of lab-on-a-chip and microfluidic technologies, with particular emphasis on the analysis of cellular and biomolecular systems, are encouraged to participate.
Required Textbook:
None (course notes)
Recommended Reading:
1. Kirby, Micro- and Nanoscale Fluid Mechanics for Engineers: Transport in Microfluidic Devices (http://www.kirbyresearch.com/textbook)
2. Li, Microfluidic Lab-on-a-Chip for Chemical and Biological Analysis and Discovery, Chromatographic Science Series, v. 94, Taylor & Francis, 2006.
3. Nguyen and Wereley, Fundamentals and Applications of Microfluidics, 2nd ed., Artech House, 2006.
Grading Policy:
Homework - 20%
Midterm exam - 25%
Labs - 25%
Project - 30%