From Constraints to Opportunities: Open Hardware Driving Global Biology Research
Overview
Attendees are invited to discover how open hardware solutions are empowering scientists, particularly in the Latin American context, to overcome traditional barriers to access and advance scientific research. We discuss how open-source technologies, beyond driving cost reduction, enable knowledge transfer and local fabrication. Through shared experiences and insights, we illuminate how this global DIY trend is reshaping the future of laboratory experimentation.
Speaker
Dr. Wenzel is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC). He obtained his Masters degree (2013) and PhD (2017) from the University of Cambridge, Department of Physics, and performed postdoctoral research at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at Cambridge until 2018. He then held an interdisciplinary Marie Curie Fellowship at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, before joining the IIBM end of 2020.
Dr. Tobias Wenzel is a bioengineer studying human and environmental microbiomes by developing microfluidic methods for high-throughput multi-omics screens. The research of his lab focuses on in-vitro and single cell analysis (interactions, genomics, cultivation, phenotyping) by drawing on biophysics (self-organisation, micro-and nanostructuration, optics & photonics, modeling) and Open Source Hardware automation.
Related Publications
Academic Article Reference: Tobias Wenzel (2023) Open hardware: From DIY trend to global transformation in access to laboratory equipment. PLOS Biology 21(1): e3001931
Repositories
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