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Microfluidics in Engineering, Science, and Technology Education
Conference proceeding   Open access

Microfluidics in Engineering, Science, and Technology Education

Michael Mauk, Richard Chiou, Vladimir Genis, M Carr, Danielle Tadros and Christopher Sikich
Association for Engineering Education - Engineering Library Division Papers, pp 25.935.1-25.935.9
10 Jun 2012
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--21692
url
https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--21692View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Maybe Open Access (Publisher Bronze),  Open

Abstract

Actuators Channels Chemical sensors Chips (electronics) Circuits Control equipment Curricula Embossing Ferrofluids Fluid filters Fluidic circuits Image processing Laboratories Laser machining Machine vision Microcontrollers Packed columns Rapid prototyping Sensors Vision systems Biomedical Materials Fluid Mechanics Light Emitting Diodes Microfluidics Nanotechnology Organic Chemistry Polymerase Chain Reaction Robotics
The paper describes microfluidics laboratory experiments and projects incorporated into the Engineering Technology curriculum and high-school science classes. The material is being developed under a Type 1 NSF TUES program. Microfluidics technology provides miniaturized fluidic networks for processing and analyzing liquids in the nanoliter to milliliter range. Typically, a microfluidic “lab on a chip” system comprises a credit-card sized plastic, glass, ceramic, or silicon substrate. A fluidic circuit of interconnected channels, conduits, chambers, filters, packed columns, valves, fluid actuators, sensors, and other components is formed by milling, laser machining, lithography, embossing, 3D-printing, or other microfabrication techniques. Microfluidics is of increasing importance for biomedical applications, particularly point-of-care medical diagnostics, as well as micro-scale chemistry, chemical sensors, and detailed studies of biological phenomena including cellular functions, cell cultures, and cell and tissue engineering. Microfluidic devices offer many opportunities for teaching students the multidisciplinary integration of CAD, rapid prototyping, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, instrumentation and control, optics, sensors, robotics, automation, machine vision, image processing, and nanotechnology. The following laboratory experiments and projects are described in detail: 1) the design, rapid prototyping, and characterization of microfluidic chips,2) the development a PID microcontroller polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system for medical diagnostics, 3) robotic manipulation and machine vision of ferrofluids in microfluidic channels, and 4) microfluidic chips with multicolor LEDs to observe phototaxis (light-directed movement)of algae under a low-power microscope.

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