Alex Daniel, who handles the electronic design and repair of lab instruments, joins Keith Gray, who focuses upon the fabrication, modification and repair of laboratory hardware for faculty, staff or student grant projects. "Our focus is inclusive; we are open to the whole research community. The shop is designed to handle any grant," Gray said.
Since the shop's opening four weeks ago, Gray and Daniel have been working on an average of five to 10 projects at one time. The projects range from simple repairs to the creation of completely unique instruments. In combination, the two have repaired, modified or created such items as microscope slide trays, air-tight boxes that house radioactive materials, a modified endoscopic stapler with suture, computer/VCR linking, electronic circuits and boxes and a joy-stick.
"My favorite project was the mouse sniffer, which consisted of a rotating plate which had to be air-tight, but also would allow a mouse to sniff 20 different odors through a small tube without having the other odors mixed in with the one being tested," Gray said. The mouse sniffer was built for a researcher in the Department of Anatomy.
Daniel has been operating a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) program, "which allows me to create drawings in order to give myself and the customer room to design a product without material trial and error," he said. And although the shop has an operating budget that is supplemented by the School of Medicine, those needing Gray and Daniel's services pay $25 per hour plus material costs through their grant stipend.
"If someone has equipment which is broken or needs repair, we will work on it. Or if they need a specialized piece, we will build it," Gray said. "We will build anything once," said Daniel. "However," Gray added, "if a unique product is built and is marketable, the University has the patent rights to it."
To contact the Electronics and Machine Shop, call 727-7420 or email at emoryshop @physio.cc.emory.edu.
--Bradley A. Singer