Short Course On

Microfluidics and its Applications

Date and Location

The short course is held in conjunction with the 84th Annual Meeting of The Society of Rheology (February 10-14, 2013)

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Instructors

Instructor Biosketches

Professor Anubhav Tripathi is an Associate Professor of Engineering at Brown University. His research group focuses primarily on microfluidics and biotechnology. Among his publications is a substantial review of microfluidic reactors. Prior to joining the faculty at Brown, he worked at Caliper Life Sciences for three years doing research and development of microfluidic chips.

Professor Annie Colin is a Professor at Université Bordeaux 1 et Institut Universitaire de France. Her research focuses on flow of complex fluids, rheology, soft matter and microfluidics.

Professor Charles M. Schroeder is an Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests focus on molecular engineering, single polymer dynamics, hybrid biomaterials, functional surfaces and advanced imaging. Prior to joining Urbana-Champaign, he performed his doctoral research at Stanford and postdoctoral work at Harvard.

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Course Description

The last decade has witnessed an explosion of interest in microfluidics, buoyed in large part by the idea that microfabricated fluidic geometries may revolutionize chemistry and biology, much as microchips did for computing, science and technology. Microfluidic devices hold promise for automated and parallel experimentation, affording precise control over experimental conditions while requiring small volumes of materials that may be difficult or expensive to procure.

This promise holds for rheology as well -- both for scientific studies of rheologically interesting systems and for the creation and characterization of new materials. This short course is designed to give the academic or industrial rheologists/engineers/scientists an overview of microfluidic systems, with the goal of giving participants the knowledge and intuition required to develop microfluidic capabilities in their own settings. Both theoretical and experimental concepts describe microfluidic applications will be presented.

Course Outline

1. Introduction: capabilities and advantages inherent to microfluidics
2. How does one get started?
   1. Fabrication techniques and strategies (hard and soft)
   2. Pumping, metering, mixing, heating strategies
   3. The newcomers’ “barriers to entry:” necessary expertise and equipment to start
3. An intuitive, ‘rule of thumb’ exploration of microfluidics
   1. Small-scale, viscous (Low-Re) flows
   2. Diffusion, mixing and dispersion
   3. Non-continuum effects
   4. Electrokinetics
4. Two-phase microfluidics: capillary effect
   1. Wetting and mixing phenomena
   2. Designer droplets, emulsions and particles in microfluidics
   3. Droplets as microreactors
5. Non-Newtonian microfluidics
   1. Single-molecule studies: motivation, bulk versus single molecule studies
   2. Model systems for single polymer dynamics: double stranded DNA (semi-flexible) & single stranded DNA (flexible) & future systems
   3. Other single molecule (proteins & other complex fluids)
   4. Non-Newtonian material flows and imaging (advanced/cutting edge topics in the field)
6. Putting it all together: examples of and visions for microfluidic rheology
   1. On-chip measurements of intrinsic viscosity
   2. Microfluidic microrheology of transient, solvent-responsive complex fluids
   3. Sorting of particles
   4. Microfluidic trap: 2-D nanoparticle/polymer manipulation in free solution, the idea of "active" control in microfluidic devices

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   Short Course Registration

   Short course registration includes a complete set of course notes. Registration fees are in U.S. dollars. Payment can be made online with MasterCard, Visa, Discover, or American Express.

   Registration Fee for		Through 2/1/2013	After 2/1/2013
   	Member	$700	$800
   	Non-Member* (includes membership for 2013)	$755	$855
   	Student Member	$400	$500
   	Student Non-Member* (includes student membership for 2013)	$425	$525

   *Non-members who are registering to attend the 84th Annual Meeting may register for the short course at the member rates.

   Register Online

   Cancellations for the short course received by electronic mail (c/o The Local Arrangements Chair, John F. Brady, jfbrady@caltech.edu) by January 4, 2013 will be refunded minus a $50 administrative charge.  No refunds will be granted after that date. Each class is limited to 40 students.

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   Questions can be directed to Anne Mary Grillet, Sandia National Laboratories, current chair of the SOR Education Committee, at amgrill@sandia.gov.