MRSEC-Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia Partnership

MRSEC researchers expanded their participation in the cross-international partnership led by Vlassak in collaboration with the Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia (UTEC) in Lima, Peru. A team of Harvard undergraduates spent two weeks with their counterparts from UTEC improving their microfluidic devices for soil and water testing in the Amazon basin of Peru (top). These field-deployable devices are low cost, yet robust, microfluidic chips that are designed and fabricated during reciprocal visits by UTEC undergraduates to Harvard. During their visit to the MRSEC (bottom), UTEC students learned about ongoing microfluidic research in the Weitz lab. The students used the Harvard’s instructional laboratories and Center’s shared instrumentation to build, test, and refine the team’s designs for both soil and water testing. These reciprocal visits and research projects are chosen to address issues of need by the Peruvian population particularly in rural areas extending to the Amazon basin. These exchanges also provide real world problems for Center researchers and how MRSEC research can address these societal needs.