HIGHWAY TO HELL OR STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN? - FROM AN ACADEMIC IDEA TO A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT
Holger Becker, Ph.D., CSO

Microfluidic ChipShop GmbH
Stockholmer Str. 20
Jena, 07747 GERMANY
phone: +49-364-134-7050
info@microfluidic-chipshop.com
www.microfluidic-chipshop.com

Most students with microfluidic experience will start their career in industry after graduation. This transition is usually accompanied by a more or less heavy culture shock. Many methods and technologies used in industry differ dramatically from their academic counterparts. This presentation will explain the different stages of a commercial microfluidics-enabled product development process and highlight the significant differences between academic research and industrial development. Examples of product developments showing highly complex integrated microfluidic devices from fields such as molecular diagnostics or organ-on-a-chip can illustrate both technological as well as operational challenges and respective commercial solutions. Especially topics like industrial-scale liquid and dry reagent storage, sensor integration and on-chip valving will be presented and differences to typical academic approaches discussed.

ENGINEERED MICROFLUIDIC COMPONENTS ENABLE RAPID SYSTEM INTEGRATION
Stefano Begolo, PH.D., Director of Engineering

ALine, Inc.
19500 S. Rancho Way, Suite 106 & 107
Rancho Dominguez, CA 90220 USA
phone: 1-877-707-8575
info@alineinc.com
www.alineinc.com

Moving quickly from a design to a working benchtop system allows product developers to optimize the analytical triad in microfluidic product development: Cartridge + Instrument + Reagent workflow. In this presentation we will discuss a case study in which we moved a program from concept to a routine benchtop test system that enabled optimization of a multi-step assay within 12 weeks.

INISH MINI-BAR: HOW MICROFLUIDICS IS IMPACTING QUALITY CONTROL IN THE BREWERY INDUSTRY
Vivienne Williams, M.Sc., CEO

Cellix LTD.
Unit 1, Long Mile Road
Long Mile Business Park
Dublin, D12 IRELAND
phone: +35-31-450-0155
info@cellixltd.com
www.cellixltd.com

The Inish Mini-Bar is a new low-cost, portable, rapid diagnostic device for fast and reliable detection of bacteria in beer directly from the tap enabling easy continuous monitoring of beer for contamination. At present, breweries have no control over the quality of draught beer delivered to their customers as the existing DipSlide and ATP luminometer tests are too time-consuming to be adopted as part of routine quality control programs. Data now show that revenues of beer sales and profits for breweries are directly correlated to the quality of beer delivered to the customer with revenues affected by as much as 10%. With a market value of ~€209 billion, it is easy to understand why quality control of beer at the tap is now a high priority for breweries. Target customers are breweries such as Heineken, Carlsberg and AB InBev and draft beer line cleaning contractors.

LATEST ADVANCES IN MICROFLUIDIC FLOW CONTROL AND MICROFABRICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR POINT-OF-CARE AND ORGAN-ON-CHIP APPLICATIONS
Monica Brivio, Ph.D., Strategic R&D Manager

Micronit Microtechnologies BV
Colosseum 15
Enschede, 7521PV NETHERLANDS
phone: +31-53-8506-850
info@micronit.com
www.micronit.com

In this talk we will present the latest advances in flow control, together with commercially and scientifically relevant examples. Examples of integrated flow control will be presented, which include membrane-based valves and capillary flow elements. We will show integrated membrane valve examples realized via adhesive-free techniques, combining a range of validated thermoplastic and elastomeric materials, with actuation via pneumatics but also via other means.

Furthermore, we will present integration of the electrostatic triggering mechanism of a capillary burst valve in a low-cost, thermoplastic chip, enabling sequential capillary flow in fully autonomous Point-of-Care devices.

Finally, we will show integration techniques particularly relevant to the Organ-on-Chip field, integrating membranes and sensing elements, among others enabling TEER (transepithelial electrical resistance) and oxygen sensing.

TWO-PHOTON POLYMERIZATION IN 3D PRINTING SETS NEW STANDARDS IN MICRO AND NANOFABRICATION
Alexander Legant

Nanoscribe GmbH
Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1
Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, 76344 GERMANY
phone: +49-721-981-9800
fax: +49-721-981-980-130
info@nanoscribe.com
www.nanoscribe.com

Nanoscribe is a manufacturer for 3D laser lithography systems to produce micro structures for application areas like photonics, cell biology, micro mechanics, micro optics and microfluidics. With casting techniques the structures made out of photo resist can be transferred into other materials like gold, silicon and many others more. The system Photonic Professional GT is the world's most precise 3D printer. It uses two photon polymerization, what is the only technology enabling the manufacturing of a 3D object with sub-micrometer precision in one process step. The German company Nanoscribe is the technology and market leader in this field. In 2015 it was the finalist in the category rising star of the German Start-up Prize. There it was mentioned to be "one of the most successful young companies of the last few years in Germany".

PROVIDING TOTAL SOLUTION TO MICRO/NANOFLUIDICS - GENERAL INTEGRATION CONCEPT, DESIGN, FUNDAMENTAL TECHNOLOGY TO SYSTEMIZATION
Kazuma Mawatari, PhD, Associate Professor, Tokyo University, Technical Adviser at IMT

Institute of Microchemical Technology Co., Ltd.
713A West KSP, 2-3-1 Sakado
Kawasaki, 213-0012 JAPAN
phone: +81-44-811-6521
fax: +81-44-814-5545
imt-contact@i-mt.co.jp
www.i-mt.co.jp

IMT (Institute of Microchemical Technology) is a microfluidics company established in 2001, based on methodologies and technologies generated in Kitamori Laboratory in The University of Tokyo. We have collaborated for more than 16 years to transfer academic research to commercial products timely.

Based on this strong partnership, we can provide total solutions to micro/nanofluidics, from device and tool to systemization. The integration concept, MUO (micro unit operation) and CFCP (continuous flow chemical processing), can allow general integration, and the original fundamental technologies support the concept: glass micro/nanofabrication, glass/glass low temperature bonding, surface modification, optical detection of non-fluorescent molecules. We commercialized automated systems for blood diagnosis, cell analysis, food analysis, chemical plant etc.

We will introduce these methods, technologies, systems and current hot topics of single cell and single protein analysis based on nanofluidics on this presentation. If you are interested in, please also visit our exhibition booth 54.

TEST FOR SUCCESS - A DIAGNOSTIC APPROACH TO DIAGNOSTIC PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
John K. Zeis, MBA & BS Engineering, President and CEO

Toolbox Medical Innovations
1630 Faraday Avenue, Suite 102
Carlsbad, CA 92008 USA
phone: 1-760-400-6132
info@toolboxmed.com
www.toolboxmed.com

The Toolbox team have contributed to dozens of point of care diagnostic product development efforts. Through these experiences, we have found that a methodical and disciplined testing strategy throughout the process greatly increase the chance of success. Testing must be comprehensive and must evaluate usability, function, robustness and manufacturability. Proper test design and methods of prototyping can significantly influence results. We will share our insights into how to develop this test strategy for your product development effort. We will utilize case studies to elucidate the main points, including a case study of collaboration between Toolbox and Dr. Madou's lab at UC Irvine. We hope attendees will leave with a better understanding and appreciation for the importance of developing and executing a comprehensive test strategy.

DIRECT WRITE LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS
Niels Wijnaendts van Resandt, M.Sc. Physics, Director of Sales North and South America

Heidelberg Instruments, Inc.
500 West Cummings Park, Suite 4950
Woburn, MA 01801 USA
phone: 1-781-287-9758
info@himt.de
www.himt.de

Heidelberg Instruments is the leading manufacturer of direct write lithograhy systems. This brief overview will give an introduction to some of our most popular direct write lithography systems used for research applications, such as the DWL66+, microPG101 and our Maskless aligners MLA100 and MLA150.