Objective
Key Goals and Motivation
Project Goals
The principle goal of this project was relatively straightforward: to create a functioning cell printer and optimize its parameters. By modifying an existing commercial inkjet printer platform, I hoped to create a device that was compatible with multiple types of biological samples (e.g., cells, proteins, etc.) and that could print multiple types of sample in a defined pattern. In optimizing the system, I hoped to determine the best combination of parameters (in terms of droplet size, speed of dispensation, and current applied at the point of droplet formation), and to evaluate how these parameters affect the overall success of the printed sample. The ultimate success would be writing MIT in GFP fluorescent bacteria!
Personal Motivations
In addition to the technical goals of the project, I also had personal motivation for the project. I had become very intrigued by the prospects of cell printing, and this project allowed me the ability to explore this realm. Additionally, one of my main aims for the class was to create an instrument that integrated many different systems, and this project certainly offered that. Mechanical, electrical, biological, and potentially optical design were all intertwined in this project, making it an exciting challenge to tackle.
More specifically, I came into the class with three main objectives:
- Enhance my ability to develop appropriate software programs for a given instrument function and to interface these programs with actual instrumentation
- Improve my ability to identify “trouble” areas and my ability to develop appropriate approaches to tackle these challenges
- Learn to better utilize existing methods and resources and how to better integrate these into a project to create a more feasible and realistic plan/timeline
