MECA0008-1 : Microfluidics

Study Programmes 2016-2017

MECA0008-1

Microfluidics

Duration :

22h Th, 8h Pr, 16h Labo., 14h Proj.

Number of credits :

Master in biomedical engineering (120 ECTS)		5
Master in mechanical engineering (120 ECTS)		5
Master in physical engineering (120 ECTS)		5
Specialised master in nanotechnology		5

Lecturer :

Tristan Gilet

Language(s) of instruction :

English language

Organisation and examination :

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents :

This course is an introduction to small-scale flows and the burgeoning field of microfluidics. Course content: Diffusion, microfabrication, fluidics and chip design, flow control and measurement, laminar mixing, surface tension, droplet microfluidics, microflows, low Reynolds locomotion, electrowetting and digital microfluidics, electro-hydrodynamics, separation techniques, detection methods, applications in life science.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit :

At the end of this course, the student will have a good overview of microfluidics. He/She will get a good intuition of microscale flows. He/She will be able to use the strong theoretical bases for developing applications (incl. the design of microfluidic components). Thanks to the problems and lab sessions (group work), he/she will benefit from the background and potential of other students. He/she will develop critical thinking, creativity and writing skills (in English).

Prerequisite knowledge and skills :

Pre-requisites: Elementary physics, mechanics and chemistry(e.g. PHYS2020, PHYS2021, PHYS2022, CHIM0603, MECA0001, MECA0011, SYST0002)

Planned learning activities and teaching methods :

Theory and applications are covered in 12 lectures (2h each).
Four sessions (2h each) will be dedicated to solving problems on small-scale fluid mechanics and microfluidic design. Students will work in small groups.
Eight lab sessions (2h each) will be organized. The students will design their own lab-on-a-chip from scratch with a CAD software. Then, they will build the device using soft-lithography (clean room). They will interface and test the device. Finally, they will process and analyze the data (image processing). A lab report (one per group, in English) will be submitted at the end of the sessions. Feedback will be provided (incl. spelling, grammar and style).

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :

Face-to-face