2025 Workshop on Standardization of Microfluidic Devices

Manufacturing, Organ on a Chip, Sensor Integration and Advanced Applications

20-21, March, 2025

University College Dublin(UCD), Dublin, Ireland

About the Dublin Workshop

Local Organization Committee:

Assoc. Prof. Nan Zhang, UCD (Conference Chair)
Prof. Michael Gilchrist, UCD
Prof. Jens Ducree, DCU
Prof. David Hoey, TCD
Dr. Jinghang Liu, TUDublin
Dr. Xuehui Wang, UCD
Dr. Stephen Thorpe, UCD
Assoc. Prof. Fiona Freeman, UCD
Dr. Dongsheng Liu, SETU
Dr. Tianyu Guan, UCD

The Microfluidic Association Organization Committee:

Dr Darwin R. Reyes, NIST, US
Dr. Serge Renouard, Fluigent, France
Dr. John Crabtree, HJC consulting, Canada
Assoc. Prof. Nan Zhang, UCD, Ireland

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to Microfluidic workshop 2025 hosted by the University College Dublin (UCD) and the Microfluidc Associationon on March 20-21 2025 at University College Dublin, Dublin, the capital of Ireland.

We hope that you will join us for two exciting days with science, innovation and social interaction with a small but growing community of the microfludic industry and researchers. Your participation and expertise are most welcome and highly appreciated.

Topics discussed at the conference include:

Roadmap of microfluidic device
Microfluidic device manufacturing
Organ on a chip
Sensor integration
Advanced applications of microfluidic devices

Call for abstract

We extend an invitation to all those interested in participating in Workshop 2025 to submit a scientific abstract for oral or poster presentation.

Please adhere to the guidelines for abstract preparation:

Use the Word abstract template provided for preparing your abstract.
Ensure the abstract includes the title, authors, affiliations, text, references, and figures.
The length of the abstract should correspond to that of the template, specifically, one A4 page.
Submit the abstract as a PDF file by using the link to submission (or send an email to microfluidics.workshop@ucd.ie). When emailing, indicate your preferred presentation format (oral or poster).
The deadline for abstract submissions is extended to 31st January 2025.
Authors will receive a notification of abstract acceptance and the chosen presentation format (oral/poster) no later than 20th, February 2025.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please prepare your abstract using the template for download.

SUBMISSION

The Speakers

FEATURED EXPERTS

Prof. Jens Ducree

Dublin City Univerisity, Ireland

Topic: Virtual Prototyping of Lab-on-a-Disc Systems towards Larger-Scale Integration

and Automation at High Operational Reliability and Manufacturability

Dr. Jens Ducrée holds a Full Professorship of Microsystems in the School of Physical Sciences at Dublin City University (DCU). He was the founding director of Ireland’s first Fraunhofer Project Centre. Dr. Ducrée is also a principal investigator at Biodesign Europe, and the Institute of Ethics at DCU. Previously, he has worked at various renowned research centers, like IMTEK and Hahn-Schickard in Germany, and consulted a range of innovative companies across the globe. The main part of his research is directed towards novel microfluidic systems and associated actuation, detection, fabrication and instrumentation technologies for the integration, automation, miniaturization and parallelization of bioanalytical protocols. Dr. Ducrée has a keen interest in the industrialization of larger-scale integrated (LSI) Lab-on-a-Chip systems

which is boosted by platform strategies including design-for-manufacture and scale-up, digital twin concepts for virtual manufacture, testing, characterization and optimisation, failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), and standardization to

expedite and de-risk research & technology development (RTD). In an accompanying bluesky initiative, Dr. Ducrée evaluates potential synergies of research with blockchain technology towards Decentralized Science (DeSci), and, on a similar note, investigates the greatest mystery in the entire history of science and technology: “Satoshi Nakamoto & the Origins of Bitcoin”.

Dr. Darwin R. Reyes

National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST), USA

Topic: Organ on a Chip Standardization Landscape

Dr. Darwin R. Reyes is a project leader in the Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division of the Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He received a B.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico, and an M.S. in Applied Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. His research work spans from environmental analytical chemistry and toxicology during his Ph.D. to the development of microfluidic devices for two-dimensional separations and analog computing using glow discharge in microfluidic chips during his NSF postdoctoral fellowship at Imperial College, London, UK. While at NIST, Dr. Reyes’ research has focused on the development of tissue/organ-on-a-chip devices with integrated electronic and optical measurement tools to enable real-time Heart on a Chip and cancer cell-based testing for drug development and toxicity assays. Dr. Reyes is a Co-founder and Chair of the Microfluidics Association (MFA), an international standards development organization that fosters the development of ISO standards and guidelines for the microfluidics community. He is also the Chair of the International Micro Physiological Systems (IMPS) Society’s Standardization Interest Group, and the Co-Chair of the Organ/Tissue on a Chip Engineering and Efficacy Standardization Working Group. He recently was bestowed the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering’s (AIMBE) Emerging Leader Award (to be presented in 2025) and the PML/NIST Outstanding Achievement in Measurement Services and Standards Award for his contributions to the development of ISO standards through his work with the MFA.

Dr Elsa Batista

Portuguese Institute for Quality (IPQ), Porgugue

Topic: New microfluidic standardization project MFMETII.

Has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Universidade Nova de Lisboa / Faculty of Sciences (FCT/UNL).,a Master in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Lisbon / Faculty of Sciences and a Degree in Applied Chemistry from Universidade Nova de Lisboa / Faculty of Sciences (FCT/UNL).

She has been responsible for the Volume and Flow Laboratory of the Portuguese Institute for Quality (IPQ) since 2002. Having started working at IPQ in 1999. She is the convenor of the Volume subgroup of EURAMET technical committee and the Portuguese contact person for this committee. She is a board member of the Microfluidic Association and SPMET Association. She has been a technical auditor and trainer since 2002 in the areas of volume and flow. She is a member of several international standardisation technical committees, ISO TC 48, ISO TC28 and ISO TC84 and won the CEN-CENELEC Standards + Innovation Awards 2023 for the individual researcher category and chair of ISO TC48/SC8. She has several articles published in national and international magazines on the scope of volume and flow metrology; one of these papers was recently linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which helped to tackle some of the world's greatest challenges. She was the coordinator of the EURAMET international project “MeDDII - Metrology for drug delivery II” and “MFMET - Establishing metrology standards in microfluidic devices”. She will coordinate the upcoming new EPM project MFMET II.

Dr Wei Wang Charles

Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), Singapore

Topic: Advancing the Development of Microfluidics and MedTech Devices for Industry

Dr. Charles currently serves as the Principal Research Scientist and Group Manager of the Microfluidics and MedTech Devices (MMD) Group at the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech). He also provides technical support for the MedTech Pillar at the Advanced Remanufacturing Technology Center (ARTC) and holds an adjunct Associate Professor position at the School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Biotechnology (CCEB) at Nanyang Technological University.

During this seminar, Dr. Charles will provide an overview of the advancements in Microfluidics and MedTech Devices within his research group at A*STAR, SIMTech. His team is dedicated to enhancing the capabilities of microfluidics research through customized plastic chip molding, bonding, assembly, and testing. Their efforts extend to the development of microfluidics platforms, notably in molecular diagnostics, blood analysis, rapid sample processing, NGS library preparation and single cell manipulation, aimed at supporting product development within the MedTech industry.

Speakers

The Venue

UCD Sutherland School of Law at Belfield Campus, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Agenda

The Venue

Prof. David Hoey

Topic: Microtissue based Organ-on-Chip models to study Orthopaedic (patho)physiology

Dr. David Hoey is a Professor in the School of Engineering and Principal Investigator (PI) in the Trinity Centre for Biomedical Engineering and the Advanced Materials and Bioengineering Research (AMBER) Centre at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Ireland. He leads a multidisciplinary research group focusing on musculoskeletal mechanobiology, mechanotransduction, and materials for regeneration in which he has pioneered research on the mechanisms of mechanotransduction involved in bone mechanoadaptation. This fundamental research has inspired novel organ-on-chip technologies, biomaterials, mechanotherapeutics, and extracellular vesicle-based therapies, to better model and treat orthopaedic defects and diseases such as osteoporosis. He is also PI on several commercial projects developing novel biomaterials for musculoskeletal and vascular repair.

Assoc. Prof. Nan Zhang

Univeristy College Dublin, Ireland

Topic: Manufacturing of plastic microfluidic devices: Advances at Univerisity College Dublin

Dr. Nan Zhang is an Associate Professor at the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland. His research focuses on polymer micro/nano manufacturing and atomic scale manufacturing, precision plastic microfluidic chips, nanomedicine and diagnostics. He has secured over €5 million in funding, including an H2020 MSCA ITN grant as consortium co-coordinator and UCD PI, with support from Science Foundation Ireland and others. Dr. Zhang has published >100 publications in top journals such as Materials Today, International Journal of machine tools and manufacture. He also holds multiple PCT patents, some of which have been commercialized, and received the 2024 NovaUCD Invention of the Year Award.

Upcoming

Building the Skills of the Future

Hiroki Nakae

Japan bio Measurement & Analysis Consortium, Japan

Topic: Standardization of microfluidic devices :Indicators for plastic material selection

Hiroki NAKAE started the career as a neuroscience researcher in Toshiba corporation from 1986 and then a manager of bioinformatics business division in Hitachi Ltd. from 1999. He has since experienced many business ventures. At present, he is President and CEO of Bio-business solutions.

He is one of the founders of Japan bio Measurement & Analysis Consortium (JMAC) from 2006 and Director General and director of R&D division now. He plays an active role in ISO standard development as the convener and an expert of several technical committees in parallel to the assessor of clinical laboratory based on ISO 15189 performed by Japan accreditation board.

Agenda

20-21March 2025