From the Australian Research Council:
ARC Future Fellow, Professor Michael Breadmore, who is based at the University of Tasmania, has spent his research career working to simplify and speed up the analysis of chemical and biological samples, with an increasing emphasis on miniaturisation.
Since working as a Chief Investigator at the ARC Training Centre for Portable Analytical Separation Technologies (ASTech) awarded in 2014, the Training Centre has given a new industry focus to Professor Breadmore’s research.
“The ARC Training Centre is a unique opportunity that forces me to think differently as an academic," says Professor Breadmore.
“For example, our industry partner, Trajan Scientific and Medical, wanted to make a new device to collect an accurate drop of blood, store it on paper while it is transported to the lab, and then integrate into existing laboratory workflows to simplify the analysis and reduce the possibility for contamination. The result is hemaPEN®—a product that has gone from conception to having manufactured prototypes being evaluated by end-users within 2.5 years. This rate of translation of academic research is exceptional and is indicative of what can truly be achieved by close collaboration between industry and academia”.
As part of the design of the ARC Training Centre, students and early career researchers are embedded within industry partners’ organisations, to give them valuable experience in applying their research to meet commercial goals. “Most of our students really love being in an industry setting,” says Professor Breadmore. “Sometimes they like it so much, they don’t come back! Which is a fine outcome, by the way.”
Through close collaboration with, and embedding researchers within, companies, Australian research expertise will reside at the heart of the breakthroughs that shape the next generation of portable analytic devices.
Read the full article at the ARC website: ARChway June 2017—On the cutting edge of 3D printing for portable devices
Image: ARC Future Fellow, Professor Michael Breadmore, in the lab. Image courtesy: Jason Purdie.
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