Next monday, the presentation of last year ANTITRASH results will be held on line. DO NOT MISS IT!
News
25/09/20
Congratulations to Enric Perarnau for his outstanding work and specially to all team Members of AntiTrash project where these sensors are being applied. More information can be found:
16/07/20
Three different papers have been accepted to be presented as posters for The 24th International Conference onMiniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (µTAS 2020). We hope to see you all on our posters:
paper 0406 entitled "3D SKIN MICROFLUIDIC PHANTOM FOR IN VITRO WEARABLE TESTING"
paper 0391 entitled "MULTILEVEL PASSIVE MICROFLUIDICS FOR ELECTROCHEMICAL BIOSENSORS"
paper 0331 entitled "3D-PRINTING AND COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS 'MEET' PAPER-BASED MICROFLUIDICS FOR ENHANCED FLOW CONTROL IN DIFFUSIVE SENSORS"
08/05/20
Microfluidic technologies are key in the development of novel applications in different fields. In the field of separation, microfluidics-based nano- and micro-scale membranes or separation systems provide superior control over the physico-chemical characteristics of the final product. Microfluidics provide a physiological microenvironment close to reality capable of reproducing biological and physical properties (i.e., organ-on-chip) and use biomimetic approaches for separation or classification. Microfluidic systems are also the basis to reduce the time-to-market in the development of new diagnosis tools or even the first step towards personalized medicine. Furthermore, significant efforts have been devoted to the development of miniaturized systems for localized, controlled delivery of pharmaceutical agents to cells and/or tissues or for the separation of undesired particles. These are some of the applications where appropriate filtration to minute particles needs to be eliminated but microfluidic-membranes-based technology is expanding the number of applications to other fields and is more industry driven.
We are preparing a
A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Engineering and Applications".
In this Special Issue, we aim to showcase research papers, short communications, and review articles focusing on the development of microfluidics-based technologies applied to membranes relevant either for clinical safety, localized delivery/storage of target cells and/or tissues or particular points of interest in environment/system or industrial applications. We particularly welcome contributions dealing with ongoing challenges and focusing on translational research.
Novel and Challenging ideas may be selected for publications without article processing charges.
You can contact the Guest Editor: Jasmina.casals@upc.edu
03/03/20
Congratulations to all the team members who has participated in this outstanding work and specially to Microrelleus for providing us the samples for characterization. More information can be found:
03/03/20
Congratulations to Shadi Karimi for her publication in Lab on Chip Journal. More information about the paper can be found in:
14/02/20
On February 6th and 7th, the kick-off meeting of the ANTITRASH project: “SMART TRASH DETECTION AND DAMAGE PREVENTION FOR SHARED MOBILITY” (EIT Urban Mobility Business Plan 2020_eit20007) took place in City of Hamburg Hochbahn. This project has been funded in the call of Innovation Project 2019 from the EIT Urban Mobility. This is a coordinated project in which collaborate the Microtech Lab (microtech.upc.ed), Intexter and CARNET from UPC-BarcelonaTech, AALTO University, NFF at TU Braunscheweig, SEAT, Zone Cluster and City of Hamburg.
Summary of the ANTITRASH project
ANTITRASH will develop an automatic detection of trash or damage in a shared vehicle or public transport with complementing new interior materials for car-sharing purposes, nanotechnology for odor detection and interior air quality assurance.
Trash and damage will be detected with machine learning system, using a camera in the car. Intelligent materials are studied for increased durability of car interior and perception of spills. Odor sensors will be combined to microfluidics actuators to detect odor and neutralize it. The system will also serve shared car users by helping them not to forget their valuables in the vehicles.
The system will be used by shared vehicles fleets, which are owned by our customers: companies, cities and municipalities.
Main benefit is that the need for maintenance and cleaning is quantified for operator of a shared vehicle fleet. Furthermore, the user who has littered or caused damage to a shared vehicle can be held accountable, since the status of the shared vehicle is checked after every user. In addition to cleaner vehicles, odor neutralization will ensure a pleasant and comfortable transportation experience.
The problem is that shared vehicles are “no one's property” from the user perspective. This causes the users to respect the vehicle condition less than they would if they would own the car. Same applies for public transportation. As the users do not care for vehicle as much, they tend not to clean the vehicle after use or be as cautious of causing damage. The automatic detection will pinpoint the person responsible for property damage or littering, which switches the responsibility from the service provider to the user, as they will be billed for required maintenance due to their negligence.
The objectives of the MICROTECH LAB subproject within ANTITRASH are: the design, development and validation of systems based on microtechnologies for odor and bad smell detection with capacity to actuate on the neutralization of certain odors , which will ensure a good indoor air quality and environment for users in order to increase their attractiveness to sharing services. Those devices could also be used for bacteria or pollutants detection inside the vehicle, as well as to confirm trash disposal from users in order to assign responsibility.
The MicroTech Lab-INTEXTER-UPC subproject will closely interact with SEAT on the development and testing of new interior materials (i.e. plastic, metals and polymers), as well as on defining and testing microfluidic systems for smell and particles detection. All this will contribute to the reduction of cleaning and in-vehicle components replacement costs and will help to increase the final users travelling experience.
The consortium vision is that ANTITRASH contributes to a paradigm shift in the maintenance of shared vehicles from a regular basis to an optimal maintenance. The research experience by the consortium represents an optimum blending of the interdisciplinary knowledge needed to develop successful projects in the area of Shared vehicles.
20/08/19
MicroTech Lab welcomes Mr. Genis Rabost who will be working on "The microfluidics circuits for embbeded sensors in bio-wearables" in MicroTech Lab and Onalabs SL. This is an exciting project that will be developed in the Mechanical Engineering Department. The Phd Thesis will focuses on taking advantage of microfabrication and microdevices to collect and distribute sweat to different sensors in a wearable. 20-8-19
20/08/19
You can find more information in:
Shadi Karimi, Josep Farré-Lladós, Enrique Mir, Ginés Escolar and Jasmina Casals-Terré; Hemostasis-On-a-Chip: Impedance Spectroscopy Meets Microfluidics for Hemostasis Evaluation Micromachines 2019, 10(8), 534; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi10080534
30/05/19
Professionals from sectors related to mobility, entrepreneurs and public workers have proposed solutions to the challenges of urban mobility, within the framework of the 'challenge' of the EIT Urban Mobility, organized by the UPC and the City Council of Barcelona on the 20th and May 21. 'BeHive', an underground system for storing merchandise, imitating bee hives, and promoting reuse of packaging, has been the winning project.
The idea is from Eva Español, Alejandro Cavazos and Jasmina Casals, PI at MicroTech lab from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the UPC. The team will visit the global EcoMotion event, to be held in Tel-Aviv from June 10 to 13, along with those selected in the other two challenges that were made in Tel-Aviv on April 29 and 30, and in Munich, May 6 and 7.
