Standards Workshop at the National Institute of Standards

On June 1 & 2, 2017, our partner NIST will host the first workshop on standards for microfluidics, which will be held at the NIST Gaithersburg Campus in Maryland (USA). In the last two decades this field has evolved from the concept of Micro Total Analysis Systems, where systems with integrated pretreatment and analysis of chemicals were envisioned, to what is known today as Lab on a Chip. This field has shown great potential for the development of technologies that can, and to some extent, are making the difference in areas such as in vitro diagnostics, point of care testing, organ on a chip and many more. Microfluidics plays an essential role in these systems and determining the standards needed in this area is critical to enable new markets and products, and advance research and development. Our goal is to bring together stakeholders from industry, academia and government to discuss and define what are the needs in the field for the development of standards. This will be a unique and exciting opportunity for stakeholders from all over the world to join in the discussion of future developments towards the standardization in the microfluidics arena.