Sonoplot

Sonoplot is a company that has developed a nanomaterial-printing technology. Using it's "microplotter" it is able to dispense tiny volumes of material onto surfaces using a pen that uses an ultra-sound pump to dispense the liquid.

Image of a plate printed by Sonoplot's technology

Working with a more varied series of fluids (including more viscus ones) and higher resolution of deposition than its current competitor (the inkjet printer), the microplotter may allow for the utilization of nanomaterials' (like carbon nanotubes) properties in a controlled and effecient way.

Diagram of an Inkjet Printer

The reason for the microplotter's versatility is its patented ultrasonic pumping action. Unlike an inkjet printer that works by popping tiny volumes of inks onto paper in dots of 50-60 micrometers (details for the process on how an inkjet printer works is outlined here, and shown in the image to the right), the microplotter deposits the material directly, as shown in this video.

Sonoplot, the manufacturer of the microplotter tells about the promise its technology holds for smaller, cheaper, electronics. However, one can easily imagine further applications for this type of technology; be it property testing or fun drawings!

To learn more about the sonoplot's technology, click here.

WIN Seminar - Dr. Aaron Wheeler: Digital Microfluidics for Three Dimensional Cell Culture and Single-Cell Signaling Assays

For those of you interested in Nanotechnology and in learning more about it, Dr. Aaron Wheeler, a professor at the Univeristy of Toronto will be giving a seminar about research in nanotechnology (abstract below).

"Digital microfluidics is an alternative to microchannels for fluid handling in which discrete droplets are manipulated electrodynamically on the surface of an array of electrodes covered with a hydrophobic insulator. In this talk, I will describe two projects in which we are exploiting unique attributes of digital microfluidics to enable mammalian cell culture and analysis. In the first project, we have developed a system for generating arrays of microgels “on-demand” with arbitrary shapes and contents. We have used this system to identify conditions that control 3D kidney epithelial spheroid formation. In the second project, we have developed a system that allows for quantitative immunocytochemistry assays in adherent cells at the single-cell level. We have used this system to screen for PDGF signaling events with high time resolution. These examples are representative of interesting new possibilities for cell culture and analysis and other applications that are enabled by digital microfluidics. I will also briefly review our efforts to make these possibilities accessible to all users via open-source hardware and rapid prototyping techniques."

The Seminar will be given at the Quantum Nano Centre (QNC) in room 1501 on September 17th at 3pm. 

200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1
Canada     

To learn more, click here!