Brandeis University 2013-2014

Rapid Prototyping of Microfluidic Foil Chips


This project was sponsored by a National Science Foundation MRSEC grant through Brandeis University. The goal of the project was to develop processes for inexpensive, rapid fabrication of thermoplastic microfluidic devices that can be used in a variety of chemical and biological applications, such as protein crystallization research. The Fraden Research Group at Brandeis University created a prototype of a thermal linear press that can produce Cyclic Olefin Co-Polymer (COC) chips; however, the process had not been optimized to perform at the speed and accuracy they desired. The team optimized a thermal linear press that can successfully hot-emboss 50 ìm wide by 50 ìm tall channels in COC.

Brandeis poster

Faculty Advisor
Aaron Hoover 

Team Members
Elliott Donlon
Suzy Hong 
Kathryn Lau
Avery Louie 
Katherine Stegner
Alison Wu 
Markus Ludwig; Brandeis MRSEC


Team photo