On the Way to the Lab of the Future – Automation Strategies and Challenges
Dr. Kerstin Thurow, Professor and Chair of Automation Technology/Life Science Automation, Managing Director, Center for Life Science Automation (Celisca)
Abstract: The automation of life science laboratories is becoming increasingly important. The reasons for this include increased throughput requirements, increasing regulatory and safety demands, as well as an increasing shortage of skilled workers. Classic automation approaches are often not easily transferable due to the specific structure of life science processes. To develop non-proprietary and widely applicable automation solutions for the laboratory of the future (Future Lab 2.0), special demands are placed on the system concepts and implementations. In the lecture, different automation approaches with their possibilities and limitations will be presented using examples from different types of laboratories. The necessary developments in the areas of robotics, mobile robotics, and device development will be discussed. A special focus is on the implementation of complete, fully automated workflows in highly distributed laboratory environments for biomedical research or material sciences.
Advances and Challenges in Automated Compound-Oriented Measurements
Dr. Heidi Fleischer, Professor of Process Automation, Associate Director, Center for Life Science Automation (Celisca)
Abstract: Compound-oriented measurements are characterized by complex processes in sample preparation, sample transport and measurement. The automation of these processes can increase the efficiency of analytical laboratories, the safety for the personnel as well as the trueness and precision of the measurement results. A deep knowledge of the process is required to transfer the manual procedure to a suitable automation system. Both—the manual and the automated—procedures must be validated to achieve information about the repeatability and recovery rate, the within-laboratory and measurement precisions, the method stability as well as the limits of detection and quantification. This talk will give an insight into different application areas in compound-oriented measurement and related challenges in the automation of these complex processes. Selected robot-based automated systems will be explained and the measurement results presented.
Bio (Dr. Kerstin Thurow): Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Kerstin Thurow studied chemistry and received her PhD in organometallic chemistry from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in 1995. In 1999 she habilitated in measurement and control engineering. In the same year, she was appointed to the worldwide first professorship for "Laboratory Automation" at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Rostock. Since 2004 she has held the chair of "Automation Technology / Life Science Automation" at the University of Rostock and is the Director of the Center for Life Science Automation (University of Rostock). Prof. Thurow has authored more than 300 scientific publications, including 3 monographies. She is a founding member of the Academy of Sciences Hamburg and a member of the Technical Academy Germany (acatech). Her research topics include the automation of life science processes, robotics, mobile robotics, as well as systems integration and engineering or IoT in automation.
Bio (Dr. heigh Fleischer) Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Heidi Fleischer completed her university degree in 2008 in the field of Information Technology and Computer Engineering (Dipl.-Ing and M.Sc.). Since then, she has been working interdisciplinary and have earned her PhD in 2011 and her habilitation in 2016 in the fields of measurement and automation technology. In 2021, she received the extraordinary professorship for Process Automation at the University of Rostock. In addition, she is the Deputy Director of the Center for Life Science Automation (celisca) at the University of Rostock. Prof. Fleischer authored more than 135 journal and conference papers and two monographies. Her research area includes process measurement and automation in medicine, environmental sciences, biotechnology and chemistry. Beside the university tasks, she has been involved in the non-profit Hanseatic Institute of Technology e.V. (HIT e.V.) for almost 10 years, with the focus on "Lifelong Learning" and "Interdisciplinary Research". As a member of international professional societies, including IEEE (in particular in the measuring technology division I2MTC and in the Robotics Society CASE) as well as the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) she is active as a lecturer at the respective conferences.