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The facilitation of STEM education can be enhanced by the provision of opportunities for learners to gain a better understanding of science through the utilization of tangible and visual examples. The objective of this work is to present an…
Interactivity, experimenting and performing laboratory practicals contribute much to the efficiency of natural science and engineering education. Computers represent a natural element for today's students, thus the use of computers in…
The complexity of droplet microfluidics grows by implementing parallel processes and multiple functionalities on a single device. This poses a challenge to the engineer designing the microfluidic networks. In today's design processes, the…
This article describes some collaborative activities of the authors, aimed at improving science education in elementary schools. These include curriculum enhancement, development of new apparatus (a wind tunnel), science-education web site…
Microfluidics is an established multidisciplinary research domain with widespread applications in the fields of medicine, biotechnology and engineering. Conventional production methods of microfluidic chips have been limited to planar…
We present an educational tool, a microscope with a video camera, that can be fabricated either from a standard microscope or assembled from inexpensive, commercially available components (objectives, beam splitters, LEDs, linear stages)…
Accurate and integrable control of different flows within microfluidic channels is crucial to further development of lab-on-a-chip and fully integrated adaptable structures. Here we introduce a flexible microactuator that buckles at a high…
A microfluidic device is constructed from PDMS with a single channel having a short section that is a thin flexible membrane, in order to investigate the complex fluid-structure interaction that arises between a flowing fluid and a…
Large-scale microfluidic microsystems with complex three-dimensional (3D) configurations are highly in demand by both fundamental research and industrial application, holding the potentials for fostering a wide range of innovative…
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic devices have become a standard tool for engineering cells and multicellular networks in vitro. However, the reservoirs, or through-holes where cells access the devices, are usually fabricated…
The paper describes a curricular framework for introducing microcontroller programming in the University Physics lab. The approach makes use of Modeling Instruction, an effective approach for teaching science at the secondary level in which…
In education there exists a tension between two modes of learning: traditional lecture-based instruction and more tinkering-based creative learning. In this paper, we outline our efforts as two Ph.D. students (who are skilled in…
The fabrication of multilayered heterostructures is essential for advancing microelectronic and biosensing technologies. Conventional top-down manufacturing techniques are often cost-prohibitive and unsuitable for biomedical applications.…
Thin film dynamics and associated instability mechanisms have triggered a wide range of scientific innovations, as attributed to their abilities of creating fascinating patterns over small scales. Here, we demonstrate a new thin film…
We demonstrate that the so-called pancake bounce of millimetric water droplets on surfaces patterned with hydrophobic posts [Nat. Phys. 10, 515 (2014)] can be reproduced on larger scales. In our experiment, a bed of nails plays the role of…
Flexible piezoelectric devices made of polymeric materials are widely used for micro- and nano-electro-mechanical systems. In particular, numerous recent applications concern energy harvesting. Due to the importance of computational…
Electroactive-Polymers (EAPs) are one of the best soft materials with great applications in active microfluidics. Ionic ones (i-EAPs) have more promising features for being appropriate candidates to use in active microfluidic devices. Here,…
This paper presents a microfluidic device that implements standing surface acoustic waves in order to handle single cells, droplets, and generally particles. The particles are moved in a very controlled manner by the two-dimensional…
Guided by extensive numerical simulations, we propose a microfluidic device that can sort elastic capsules by their deformability. The device consists of a duct embedded with a semi-cylindrical obstacle, and a diffuser which further…
Due to scaling laws, in microfluidic, flows are laminar. Consequently, mixing between two liquids is mainly obtained by natural diffusion which may take a long time or equivalently requires centimetre length channels. To reduce time and…