"Cleaner" Space

Status: Pre-Proposal (NOT UP AND RUNNING!)

Objective: explore the creation of a space for delicate/dust sensitive projects, research, and lab-esque work. 

Equipment ideas: 

• Flow Hood (Air clean class 1000?): Owned, operational. 

• Flow Hood (Nuaire 425-400): Owned, operational. Manual is attached below

• Glassware: Simple stuff like beakers, graduated cylinders, etc. Anyone have a cache hidden?

• OpenFlexure Microscope: Low-res version based on the Pi Camera and cheap optics. Status: almost done

• Syringe pumps: We could build some of these perhaps?  

• Spectrometer: Easily buildable with the laser cutter. Anyone have any super black matte paint? 

• Vacuum chamber: DIY-able, or salvageable 

• Shelves/Storage: Stainless steel cabinets would be ideal, but also pretty expensive. 

• Lab coats/coveralls/clean suits: Rumor is that we have some clean suits. Labcoats aren't terribly expensive at $20/piece. Coats would stay in the cleaner space.

• Shoe covers: Cheap and disposable kind

• Sticky mat at the door 

• Peristaltic pumps: These are good for high volume fluid movement, cost unknown. We might have some in the parts room

Space Considerations:

The Eagle room has been suggested as a possible location as its located near existing plumbing and exhaust. Given the nature of the work that will happen in this space the door would have to be almost always be closed, so a glass door (like the one going to the laser room) may be nice to have. Other possibilities include carving out some space either upstairs or in the basement. The basement is not ideal due to lack of pre-existing closed off spaces and insane amount of dust/contaminates. Upstairs is an option, however it appears a lot of the spaces right now don't have floor-to-ceiling walls, which would be a deal breaker. 

Additional thoughts:

Right now it's important to gauge interest and possible use cases for a space like this. The preparation and maintenance of laser optics is an obvious use case for the space. Another -albeit ultra-specific- use is cutting microfluidic flow cells on the laser, then constructing and using them in the laminar flow hood to prevent contamination. Another good use could be a permanent station for acetone vapor finishing of ABS printed parts. Would also be a good place for any equipment tests/experiments that require any level of cleanliness. 

Contact: Reach out to Alex Bissell on slack if you have any ideas or lab experience. I mostly work in and setup semi-clean field labs, so any advice on more permanent setups is greatly appreciated. Looking for interested parties to help get this off the ground!