Work in Progress: Micro-/Nano-technology `Lab-on-a-chip' Research Project for First-Year Honors Engineering Program

The Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors (FEH) alternate group project (ENG H193A) uses micro-and nano-technology to involve students in research in their first year through development of and experimentation with a silicone rubber 'lab-on-a-chip'. Students seek to determine if a correlation exists between surface topology and cell adherence. They design and fabricate a lab-on-a-chip and use it to test the hypothesis. As part of the project, students use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to better understand and visualize the forces acting on the cells. Additionally, students create a three-dimensional computer-aided model of a theoretical nanofactory which would be used to alter the structure of DNA. At the end of the term, students submit a written report, project notebook, and laboratory notebook detailing their experimental work as well as their nanofactory model. Finally, they present the results of their experimental work orally to a panel who judge the students' results and understanding of the concepts involved