April 4, 2012 –
Berkeley’s Lina Nilsson, a post-doctoral researcher in Professor Daniel Fletcher’s lab, is the mastermind behind a group that helps underfunded labs create research-grade equipment without breaking the bank.
After visiting several labs in resource-poor areas of Asia and South America, Nilsson and a team of colleagues noticed that many of these labs were working with outdated and poor quality equipment. They decided to create a group that would provide these underfunded labs with the means to create do-it-yourself research-grade equipment at a low cost.
This group morphed into Tekla Labs, which provides detailed how-to blueprints for turning common household appliances into reliable lab equipment. For example, any lab can now build a good magnetic stirrer out of a light-switch circuit box for about $30, which is much cheaper than the $250 needed for a brand new one.
Nilsson says, “My dream is to make it possible for people to pursue the questions they couldn’t have before because they didn’t have the means to do so. I would like to help develop the equivalent of the Fletcher Lab in one of those countries.”
To read more check out the article in R&D Magazine