Mr. Jordan Bendler worked this past summer in Dr. Ronghui Ma’s laboratory at UMBC.  He and a graduate student, Mr. Myo Min Zaw, designed and prototyped polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic devices for studying the dispersal of nanoparticles through a porous membrane.  The devices will allow for future research in the biomedical fields, particularly in targeted cancer drug delivery.  Mr. Bendler said that the experience gained was invaluable, and the acquired skills are not traditionally taught in regular ME courses.

Starting from rudimentary information, they researched and tested different methods of mixing, curing, and bonding the PDMS material, ending with a suitable process for prototyping our devices.  Using Solidworks, a new casting mold for the devices was generated.  It was then sent to a local engineering company for subtractive manufacturing.  After completing a device, they used a syringe pump to continuously pump red dye water through the microchannels.   From analyzing the performance of the device, they could identify technical issues and improve upon future manufacturing process. 

ME S-STEM scholar, Keith Purvis has been working in the Micro Materials Characterization Lab directed by Dr. Marc Zupan in the Mechanical Engineering Department. The lab is focused on characterizing and developing emerging materials. Specifically, the lab has unique capabilities in microsample testing, in which small samples of about 3 mm long and have a testing section that is by 0.25 mm by 0.25 mm square are used. Mr. Purvis conducts material properties testing (usually tensile testing) on these samples, which enables them to characterize the properties of difficult to manufacture materials or the local properties of a material that has undergone a processing change (such as the differences in local properties that result after welding). He also compares the differences between a macro-scale (standard) tensile test and a micro-scale one to identify differences, or lack thereof, across different length scales. Non-destructive microCT scans have been used to visualize micro-voids and micro-cracks within the samples that may contribute to changes in mechanical properties of the samples.