News/Updates

December 2013

Attending MRS 2013

I am attending the Materials Research Society conference.nbsp;nbsp; If you plan on attending and would like to discuss potential collaborations or share your work please contact me.

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2013 MRS Fall Meeting Exhibit
December 1-6, 2013
Boston, Massachusetts
Meeting Chairs: Charles Black, Elisabetta Comini, Gitti Frey, Kristi Kiick, Loucas Tsakalakos

October 2013

ROBOFURNACE: A SEMI-AUTOMATED LABORATORY CVD SYSTEM FOR HIGH-THROUGHPUT NANOMATERIAL SYNTHESIS AND PROCESS DISCOVERY

C.R. Oliver, W. Westrick, J. Koehler, A. Brieland-Shoultz, I. Anagnostopoulos-Politis, T. Cruz-Gonazalez, A.J. Hart. Robofurnace: A semi-automated laboratory CVD system for high-throughput nanomaterial synthesis and  process discovery. Review of Scientific Instruments. 84(11):115105, 2013. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4826275]

Laboratory research and development on new materials, such as nanostructured thin films, often utilizes manual equipment such as tube furnaces due to its relatively low cost and ease of setup. However, these systems can be prone to inconsistent outcomes due to variations in standard operating procedures and limitations in performance such as heating and cooling rates restrict the parameter space that can be explored. Perhaps more importantly, maximization of research throughput […]

September 2013

MIT Visiting Researcher

In July, 2013 the Mechanosynthesis Group led by Prof. John Hart moved from the University of Michigan, where it had resided since 2007, to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As a member of the lab I am happy to be a visiting scholar at MIT for the 2013-2014 academic year.  I’m currently looking to establish collaborations and relationships with researchers at MIT.  Feel free to reach out to me at croliver@mit.edu

August 2013

Enabling nanofabrication through rapid innovation (ENRI) Conference

From August 18-21 I attended a workshop entitled Enabling Nanofabrication for Rapid Innovation in Napa, California.

We were honored to present our work on maskless lithography and real-time identification of particles in flow:

“A FLEXIBLE SYSTEM FOR MICROFLUIDIC PARTICLE LITHOGRAPHY AND REAL-TIME SHAPE IDENTIFICATION

C. R. Oliver1 and A. J. Hart2*
1Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, USA and
1,2Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Abstract

We present the design and performance of a reconfigurable  optofluidic lithography system for on-demand fabrication of custom shaped polymer microparticles.  The system uses a flexible optical design to enable rapid integration of complimentary components such as a digital light projector (DLP) chip. By […]

May 2013

Join me at the MBSTP Annual Symposium 2013

The Microfluidics and Biomedical Sciences Training Program is hosting the annual symposium on topics related to its namesake.

I will be presenting a poster to follow up on a recent seminar I gave entitled “Maskless optofluidic synthesis of precision polymer microparticles for biointerfaces.”

Date: Monday, May 20, 2013
Location: The Michigan League – Second Floor (Directions)
Schedule: Poster Session 4-6 PM, Dinner 6-7 PM

Keynote Lecture: 7-8 PM
Keynote Speaker: Professor Paul Yager, The University of Washington

 

 

April 2013

Patent awarded for high-throughput microfluidic based bio-diseal synthesis method

Congratulations to Brian H. Dennis, Richard E. Billo, Christopher R. Oliver, John W. Priest, Edward S. Kolesar, and Elinor Kolesar in the final patent award for a novel method to synthesize biodiesel using arrayed microfluidic devices and diffusive mixing.

Methods and Systems for Improved Biodiesel Production
US 20110060152 A1

ABSTRACT

In a method and system to produce biodiesel using an improved catalytic transesterification process, a first reactant and a second reactant are dispersed to form a laminar slug flow pattern within a microchannel of a microreactor, the first reactant and the second reactant being immiscible. The first reactant and the second reactant are mixed, thereby triggering a reaction between them to […]

March 2013

A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF VARIATION IN LABORATORY GROWTH OF CARBON NANOTUBE FORESTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF PROCESS CONSISTENCY

C.R. Oliver, E.S. Polsen, E.R. Meshot, S. Tawfick, S.J. Park, M. Bedewy, A.J. Hart. A statistical analysis of variation in laboratory growth of carbon nanotube forests and recommendations for improvement of process consistency. ACS Nano 7(4):3565–3580, 2013. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nn400507y]

While many promising applications have been demonstrated for vertically aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) forests, lack of consistency in results (e.g., CNT quality, height, and density) continues to hinder knowledge transfer and commercialization. For example, it is well known that CNT growth can be influenced by small concentrations of water vapor, carbon deposits on the reactor wall, and experiment-to-experiment variations in pressure within the reaction chamber. However, […]

February 2013

Celebrate Creativity: Engineering Art Show: A very special NIMSA event

The executive committee of NIMSA is proud to invite you to a very special evening.  The NIMSA Celebrate Creativity: Engineering Art Show.

This event is the brainchild of myself and President David Hiemstra.  It is an opportunity for engineering to show off their artistic and creative talents.

Blueprint will also be releasing its annual magazine featuring art and literature from around campus.

Invited MBSTP Seminar: Microparticle synthesis

I’ll be speaking to the Microfluidics and Biomedical Sciences Training Program on “Maskless optofluidic synthesis of precision polymer microparticles for biointerfaces.”

This is will be an exciting opportunity to learn about the critical factors in manufacturing microparticles via maskless optofluidics.  In addition we will be discussing several applications the combine technology and this synthesis process such magnetic microparticles for drug delivery.

Food provided!  February 11, 2013 at noon in 1180 Duderstadt.

November 2012

Materials Research Society Conference 2012

The Materials Research Society hosts one of the premiere conferences in the world on applied and basic science in materials.  I presented two posters at this years conference in two different sessions.

The first poster was entitled “A reconfigurable system for maskless microfluidic lithography of microstructured polymer particles and structures”

Abstract

The introduction of stop-flow microfluidic lithography by Dendukuri et al. (2007) and maskless stop flow lithography by Chung et al (2007) enabled the on-demand synthesis of custom-shaped microparticles with patterned chemical functionality.  We present the design and characterization of a low-cost reconfigurable system for high resolution maskless microfluidic lithography.  The system uses […]