by Nic Mokhoff, EE Times
CARLSBAD — Michelle Khine, a founder of Shrink Nanotechnologies’ nanofabrication platform, used Shrinky-Dinks material to create a fully microfluidic device without the need for a clean room and sensitive and expensive equipment.
For that feat Khine was named by MIT Technology Review as one of the top 35 global innovators under the age of 35.
The innovations inspired by Khine have become the core of Shrink Nanotechnologies, the exclusive licensee of the patent-pending advances made by her. The company is addressing the solar, biotech research and development, and diagnostics and sensor industries.
Khine created a channel design for her initial devices in AutoCAD, printed it on the Shrinky Dink material, and then placed it inside a toaster oven. The heat caused the plastic to shrink and the ink particles on its surface to cluster together and form ridges.
A flexible polymer was poured onto the surface of the cooled Shrinky Dink and the ink ridges created tiny channels in the surface of the polymer as it hardened. The polymer was peeled back from the Shrinky Dink mold, unveiling a fully customized and functional microfluidic device. Khine and 34 others under 35 will be honored as “Innovators” at Technology Review’s EmTech09 Conference at MIT in September.
Amazing journey from Shrinky Dinks for kids to shrinking nanotech products.
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