Digital microfluidics is a fascinating field that involves the programmable manipulation of tiny discrete droplets on a chip. Droplets, much smaller than raindrops, are precisely controlled to perform various benchtop biological and chemical analyses on a device called a lab-on-a-chip.

Jalal Ahamed, a professor in the Department of Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering, and doctoral student Gnanesh Nagesh are leading a collaboration with Professor C.J. Kim at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to combine several disciplines and develop a thermal control system for lab-on-a-chip devices.

“Professor C.J. Kim is known as one of the pioneers in digital microfluidics, and this is a unique opportunity for us to learn from a leader in the field. In his lab at UCLA, we received hands-on training in digital microfluidics, and we learned how they design and program these devices,” says Dr. Ahamed.

Driven by an NSERC Alliance International Catalyst Grant, the team has been working to develop an integrated microthermal sensing and heating system for droplet-based lab-on-a-chip devices.

As lab-on-a-chip technology advances, integrated control and sensing systems will remain at the forefront, driving more sophisticated and impactful microfluidics for biomedical analysis and instrumentation.