The development of microfluidics-based systems in the recent years has provided a rapid and controlled method for the generation of monodisperse microencapsulates for multiple applications. Here, we explore the design, manufacture and characterization of a low-cost microsystem for the encapsulation of the fungal laccase from Pycnoporus sanguineus CS43 in alginate microcapsules. Multiphysics simulations were used to overview the fluid behavior within the device and estimate the resulting capsule size. Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) sheets were used for final microsystem manufacture. Different flow rates of the continuous (Q_c) and discrete (Q_d) phases in the ranges of 83–293 mL/h and 1–5 mL/h, respectively, were evaluated for microcapsule fabrication. Universal Serial Bus (USB) microscope and image analysis was used to measure the final particle size. Laccase encapsulation was evaluated using spectrophotometry and with the aid of fluorescent dyes and confocal microscopy. Results showed microcapsule size was in the range of 203.13–716.00 μm and Q_c was found as the dominant parameter to control capsule size. There was an effective enzyme encapsulation of 65.94% with respect to the initial laccase solution.

We describe the manufacture of low-cost microfluidic systems to produce nanoscale liposomes with highly uniform size distributions (i.e., low polydispersity indexes (PDI)) and acceptable colloidal stability. This was achieved by exploiting a Y-junction device followed by a serpentine micromixer geometry to facilitate the diffusion between the mixing phases (i.e., continuous and dispersed) via advective processes. Two different geometries were studied. In the first one, the microchannels were engraved with a laser cutting machine on a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) sheet and covered with another PMMA sheet to form a two-layer device. In the second one, microchannels were not engraved but through-hole cut on a PMMA sheet and encased by a top and a bottom PMMA sheet to form a three-layer device. The devices were tested out by putting in contact lipids dissolved in alcohol as the dispersed phase and water as the continuous phase to self-assemble the liposomes. By fixing the total flow rate (TFR) and varying the flow rate ratio (FRR), we obtained most liposomes with average hydrodynamic diameters ranging from 188 ± 61 to 1312 ± 373 nm and 0.30 ± 0.09 PDI values. Such liposomes were obtained by changing the FRR from 5:1 to 2:1. Our results approached those obtained by conventional bulk synthesis methods such as a thin hydration bilayer and freeze-thaw, which produced liposomes with diameters ranging from 200 ± 38 to 250 ± 38 nm and 0.30 ± 0.05 PDI values. The produced liposomes might find several potential applications in the biomedical field, particularly in encapsulation and drug delivery.

This paper focuses on demonstrating the design and build stages, and effort done by Systems Engineering students team (DustyTRON NASA Robotics) to develop a mining robot that was used in the 2016 National Aeronautics & Space Ad-ministration (NASA) Robotics Mining Competition (RMC). The objective of the NASA RMC challenge is to encourage engineering students to design and build a robot that will excavate, collect, and deposit a simulated Martian regolith. Mining water/ice, and regolith is very essential task for space missions and resource utilization, they contain many elements such as metals, minerals, and other compounds. The Mining will allow extracting pro-pellants from the regolith such as Oxygen and Hydrogen that can be used as an energy source for in-space transportation. In addition, the space mining system can be used in tasks that are important for human and robotics scientific investigations. The DustyTRON team consists of Systems Engineering students, who are divided into 1) hardware design, 2) electrical circuitry and 3) software development sub-teams. Each team works in harmony to overcome the challenges had previously experienced, such as heavy weight, circuitry layout design, autonomous and user control modes, and better software interface. They designed and built a remote controlled excavator robot, that can collect and deposit a minimum of ten (10) kilograms of regolith simulant within 15 minutes. The developed robot with its innovative mining mechanisms and control system and software will assist NASA in enhancing the current methodologies used for space/planet exploration and resources’ mining especially the Moon and Mars. NASA’s going-on project aims to send exploration robots that collect resources for analysis before sending astronauts. In 2016, only 56 United State (US) teams were invited to participate, and DustyTRON was one of three university teams from the state of Texas, the team placed the 16th in overall performance. This paper will address the full engineering life-cycle process including research, concept design and development, constructing the robot and system closeout by delivering the team’s robot for the competition in Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs) have been considered for several applications in drug delivery. However, the main challenge is to assure high cell-penetration levels, especially when dealing with cargoes that show limited membrane passing. A strategy is to encapsulate the MNPs into liposomes to form magnetoliposomes (MLs) capable of fusing with membranes to achieve high delivery rates. MLs have therefore been used as carriers in the biomedical field due to their ability to release active molecules that can be used in treatments of diverse diseases. There are several techniques to produce such encapsulates, however, the main challenge is that the process often leads to an important fraction of non-encapsulated MNPs. Purification of such a fraction is challenging because of the small size difference between the particles and the MLs and the reduced magnetic responsiveness. Seeking to obtain pure MLs with potential use in the medical field, the following study presents finite element simulations using COMSOL Multiphysics of two purification methods. Accordingly, we implemented the magnetic and asymmetric pinched flow fractionation (AsPFF) separation systems to evaluate their purification efficiencies considering operation parameters such as the Flow Rate Ratio (FRR) and Total Velocity Ratio (TVR). Additionally, a mixture interaction approach was used to model the MNPs as a dispersed ferrofluid phase. This was compared with a particle tracing approach where MNPs are considered individual entities subjected to hydrodynamic forces. The results show efficiencies between 60% and 90% for both separation methods, which confirms their feasibility to improve and optimize the purification of MLs in a high throughput manner.

Magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs) have been considered for several applications in drug delivery. However, the main challenge is to assure high cell-penetration levels, especially when dealing with cargoes that show limited membrane passing. A strategy is to encapsulate the MNPs into liposomes to form magnetoliposomes (MLs) capable of fusing with membranes to achieve high delivery rates. MLs have therefore been used as carriers in the biomedical field due to their ability to release active molecules that can be used in treatments of diverse diseases. There are several techniques to produce such encapsulates, however, the main challenge is that the process often leads to an important fraction of non-encapsulated MNPs. Purification of such a fraction is challenging because of the small size difference between the particles and the MLs and the reduced magnetic responsiveness. Seeking to obtain pure MLs with potential use in the medical field, the following study presents finite element simulations using COMSOL Multiphysics of two purification methods. Accordingly, we implemented the magnetic and asymmetric pinched flow fractionation (AsPFF) separation systems to evaluate their purification efficiencies considering operation parameters such as the Flow Rate Ratio (FRR) and Total Velocity Ratio (TVR). Additionally, a mixture interaction approach was used to model the MNPs as a dispersed ferrofluid phase. This was compared with a particle tracing approach where MNPs are considered individual entities subjected to hydrodynamic forces. The results show efficiencies between 60% and 90% for both separation methods, which confirms their feasibility to improve and optimize the purification of MLs in a high throughput manner.