Workshops
The Electronics and Mechanical workshops provide an important central facility for the LMB.
As well as providing instrument improvements, modifications and repairs, the workshops are responsible for designing and constructing a wide range of complex scientific instruments that are not available commercially.
By having the workshops on site, work to design, prototype and develop new instruments happens much faster at the LMB than in other laboratories, which are reliant on outside contractors.
The work of the LMB’s workshop experts has also had a wider impact on research – in the UK and worldwide. Over the years the LMB’s workshop staff have created a number of novel instruments which have been adopted by the wider scientific community including some that have gone on to be produced commercially.
The engineers’ skills encompass the full range of current electronic techniques, including programmable logic, computer interfacing, embedded systems, laser controllers and wireless data acquisition, plus software in a variety of languages. Also, a full range of CAD tools enable the manufacture of printed circuit boards in-house.
The workshop can adapt existing equipment or design and construct complete systems from scratch. Examples of the many hundreds of projects undertaken over the years include a photomultiplier system for long-term monitoring of circadian gene expression in cells and tissues, optical and control systems for confocal microscopy, and a complete custom robotic system for high-throughput genomics. Others include thermal imaging systems for monitoring animal behavioural activity, advanced sensors for integration into microfluidic chips, and a miniature thermal stage for micro-scale PCR. Recent developments in all types of optogenetic techniques, along with changes in microscope illumination, have also led to a significant increase in expertise in the use of high-power LEDs and laser systems.
Custom software, particularly for instrument control and interfacing, can be developed for Windows, Mac OS, Linux and Android.
Many projects are undertaken in partnership with the Mechanical Workshop. Like all of the LMB’s resources, the Electronics Workshop is there to serve the researchers, and its skills are at the disposal of all members of the Laboratory from PhD students to group heads. The Workshop’s staff are always ready to discuss new projects, helping to develop an initial idea into a fully-functional piece of equipment.
The Mechanical Workshop was originally set up to design and build the X-ray generators and detectors for crystallographic studies. Today, it is one of the most sophisticated engineering departments in the biological sciences, and undertakes a huge range of work.
The high standard of the Mechanical Workshop’s design and engineering, coupled with the challenges set by the Laboratory’s scientists, has led to the commercial development of many projects started at the LMB. Indeed, many of the items now found in labs around the world, from gel tanks to confocal microscopes, have started life in the LMB workshops.