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University of Canterbury Microfluidics Research
Featured in
New Zealand Science Teachers Magazine
New Zealand Association of Science Educators
The NZST is the official journal of the NZASE and features a veritable cornucopia of information on everything you wanted to know about science and science education but never thought to ask! Published three times a year (March, June and October) the NZST is a much sought after rollicking good read for practitioners, researchers and anyone interested in science and science education. The NZST is a unique publication that proudly celebrates local scientific and education endeavour.
Microfluidics is a new fast-growing area for research and development, and has already given us the ink-jet printer and improved medical technologies. Currently, there are two exciting projects being undertaken at the University of Canterbury, as Mathieu Sellier and Volker Nock explain.
Bioimprint Featured on Radio New Zealand National "Our Changing World" Programme
Aired on the 2nd of June 2011
From left to right: Volker Nock, Lynn Murray, John Evans, and Maan Alkaisi; and stained (blue) cells growing on a bioimprint surface
Developed at University of Canterbury and University of Otago, Christchurch, bioimprint technology replicates cellular surface features into a polymer mould. The resulting bioimprint can be used to take high resolution images or, more innovatively, to grow cells on a scaffold.
As Ruth Beran finds out, investigators Volker Nock, Lynn Murray, John Evans, and Maan Alkaisi are looking at variation in cell adhesion and the potential impact this surface modification tool may have on biomaterials and biological functioning. The research is currently being funded by a grant from the Marsden Fund, and the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology.
Smallest Map of Christchurch Printed using Electron Beam Lithography
4 July 2003
A student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has made the smallest map of Christchurch ever printed. Ms Jullada Homtientong printed the map using Electron Beam Lithography (EBL), a technique in which a focused beam of electrons is scanned over a silicon chip coated with a thin polymer layer; wherever the electron beam exposes the polymer a pattern is formed after a subsequent chemical development process.
Images of the map are shown below. The whole of the city of Christchurch is contained in an area about 100 micrometres square (one micrometre is a thousandth of a millimetre), which is small enough to fit on a human hair. The streets themselves are only 100 nanometres wide (one nanometre is a millionth of a millimetre). The map is so small that it would just look like a speck of dust to the human eye, and a powerful electron microscope has been used to capture these images.
Jullada presents her minute map of Christchurch which she intends to squeeze onto this credit card sized map of the world.
This demonstration shows the power of nanotechnology in being able to create structures with incredible complexity in a very small area. This already finds practical application in the manufacture of modern computer chips, in which the dimensions of the wiring is already at about the 100 nanometre scale.
The University of Canterbury researchers are part of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, a New Zealand Centre of research Excellence. This institute aims to develop new materials and device technologies to serve the future needs of New Zealand science and technology related industries. Nanotechnology research is a key part of the Institute's work.