Archive
Academia Archive
Cranfield aids fresh space exploration | Cranfield aids fresh space exploration |
| Written by Lautaro Vargas | |
| Wednesday, 12 December 2007 | |
![]() This metal master template could lay the groundwork for a disposable microfluidic device, suitable for mass production across the medical sector Projects that will benefit from the new lab include the development of a mass production ready disposable microfluidic device for the healthcare industry and research into an ultra-precise machine tool for the manufacture of mirrors for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The 4,300 sq ft Hexagon Loxham Precision Laboratory boasts a state-of-the-art temperature and humidity controlled workspace and is the latest addition to the Cranfield University Precision Engineering Centre, a centre of excellence in advanced manufacturing technologies, which claims to house the most accurate diamond machining facilities in the world. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large, infrared-optimised space telescope, scheduled for launch in 2013, which will find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way Galaxy. JWST will have a large mirror, 6.5 metres in diameter and a sunshield the size of a tennis court. Both the mirror and sunshade won’t fit onto the rocket fully open, so both will fold up and open only once JWST is in outer space. Cranfield is also looking at a process which enables the economical mass-production of plastic disposable microfluidic devices for the medical devices sector. Currently microfluidic devices are far from being commercially widely used as the processes involved means they are not suitable for mass production. This ‘metal master’ template is used to produce plastic disposable microfluidic devices for the medical devices sector, which are used in disposable components such as medical point-of-care (POC) devices. Hexagon Metrology – the laboratory sponsor – has supplied the facility with a £400,000 ultra high accuracy, Leitz PMM-F co-ordinate measuring machine to facilitate mirror production for extra large telescopes, which will also be used for other precision measurement tasks carried out by Cranfield for its R & D customers. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
![]() SDC Systems www.sdcsystems.com Category: Electronics |