Interdisciplinary Bioengineering: Microfluidic device for cell manipulation/culture and molecular biology
Project Description
In the project, the student will work on a microfluidic device with the aim of manipulating or culturing small numbers of cells. Students taking part in this project will learn about basic microfluidic device design and fabrication, and may take part in fabrication of the device. If the student successfully fabricates the device, their device may go on to be use for single cell studies.
Interested students must be motivated and curious about the life sciences, and be willing to perform not only microfluidics/engineering related work, but also molecular biology experiments. The in-depth knowledge of cell biology and molecular biology is not a prerequisite, but student must be able to self-learn material relatively quickly.
Interested students must be motivated and curious about the life sciences, and be willing to perform not only microfluidics/engineering related work, but also molecular biology experiments. The in-depth knowledge of cell biology and molecular biology is not a prerequisite, but student must be able to self-learn material relatively quickly.
Supervisor
WU Angela Ruohao
Quota
1
Course type
UROP1000
UROP1100
UROP2100
UROP3100
UROP4100
Applicant's Roles
The student will:
- Use design software such as AutoCAD to draw schematics of the device
- Potentially get training in the HKUST cleanroom to fabricate their device
- Fabricate their device in PDMS
- Potentially use the device for cell culture and genomics profiling studies
- Learn about molecular biology assays and perform them either in conventional benchtop format or in microfluidic device.
- Use design software such as AutoCAD to draw schematics of the device
- Potentially get training in the HKUST cleanroom to fabricate their device
- Fabricate their device in PDMS
- Potentially use the device for cell culture and genomics profiling studies
- Learn about molecular biology assays and perform them either in conventional benchtop format or in microfluidic device.
Applicant's Learning Objectives
The objectives of the project are:
- Learn the theory behind microdevice design and fabrication (theory/literature based)
- Learn the basics of soft lithography and PDMS device fabrication
- Learn about the fundamentals of cell and molecular biology, and possibly genomics
- Through hands-on experience, become familiar with the basic procedure of how to make a PDMS-based microfluidic device, how to test the device and evaluate its performance, as well as the relevant safety practices associated with microfabrication.
- Learn the theory behind microdevice design and fabrication (theory/literature based)
- Learn the basics of soft lithography and PDMS device fabrication
- Learn about the fundamentals of cell and molecular biology, and possibly genomics
- Through hands-on experience, become familiar with the basic procedure of how to make a PDMS-based microfluidic device, how to test the device and evaluate its performance, as well as the relevant safety practices associated with microfabrication.
Complexity of the project
Challenging