Caitlin Howell
University of Maine, ME·Materials Science
Microfluidic devices move tiny volumes of liquid through narrow channels. They power applications from medical diagnostics to water disinfection, but the materials they need are often expensive and hard to get.
- Fields
Materials Science
Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
- Topics
microfluidics
roll-to-roll manufacturing
mass manufacturing
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2027
What they work on
- Build functional microfluidic prototypes using industrial-scale, roll-to-roll cast channel systems produced with Maine-based paper manufacturing infrastructure.
- Demonstrate proof-of-concept microdroplet generation, cell sorting, and water disinfection in roll-to-roll cast microfluidic devices at different length scales.
- Establish mechanistic design rules for fabricating microfluidic devices compatible with roll-to-roll processes, so industry can rapidly test designs suited to mass manufacturing.
More about the research
Many promising lab designs are also never made at scale. This project asks whether the existing American paper-making industry, with its large mass-manufacturing machines, can supply cheaper microfluidic materials with lower environmental impact.
Why it matters
Cheap, mass-produced microfluidic materials could make diagnostics and small-scale water treatment more affordable and widely available. The approach could let Maine's paper mills and their workers enter the biotechnology supply chain. The same roll-to-roll prototyping may also inform materials for wearables and low-cost sensors.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
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University of Minnesota, MN·Engineering
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Samuel K Sia
Columbia University, NY·Biomedical Engineering
Integrate plasma filtration from whole blood and PRECISE magnetic bead nucleic-acid extraction with plasmonic PCR to create a sample-to-answer hepatitis C RNA test.
Glenn Daehn
Ohio State University, OH·Engineering
Develop numerically controlled deformation sequences and equipment to produce complex components currently made as closed-die forgings, where metal is pressed into shaped tooling, with the goal of shorter lead times and improved part performance.
The school
University of Maine: 10 labs on PI Pages, $199M a year on research, 81 research doctorates a year.
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