A “mirror module”—formed of 140 industrial silicon mirror plates, stacked together by a sophisticated robotic system—is destined to form part of the optical system of the European Space Agency’s Athena X-ray observatory. Due to launch in 2031, Athena will probe 10 to 100 times deeper into the cosmos than previous X-ray missions, to observe the…
Data-Transmitting Light Signal Boosted by Nanosized Amplifier
Light is a more energy efficient and faster way of transferring data than electricity. Until now, the rapid attenuation of light signals in microchips has prevented the use of light as a source of an information signal. With international collaboration, researchers at Aalto University have now developed a nanosized amplifier to help light signals propagate…
REMINDER: Submit Your Cleanroom Product to the Readers’ Choice Awards!
Controlled Environments is proud to announce its fifth annual Readers’ Choice Awards for the Best Cleanroom Products of the Year. The awards celebrate excellence in product design and performance for tools, equipment and materials used in all areas of clean and controlled environment performance and operation. Equipment and product suppliers are invited to submit their…
Cleanroom Helps Investigate Ancient Mystery
Archaeologists from Goethe University will be returning to the Urals, a mountain range in Russia, for further research work. In collaboration with researchers from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and Russian colleagues, they want to find out what could have led to major transformations in the way of life there in the second millennium BC. The…
NASA Space Telescope Wrapped in a Mobile Cleanroom
Before moving NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and to assure that it’s kept clean and safe, Webb got a very special wrapping treatment. The wrapping acts as a “mobile cleanroom,” safeguarding the technological marvel from contaminants. All satellites and observatories are created in cleanrooms. Cleanrooms filter out harmful contaminants, as even a speck of dust…
Huge New Dark Matter Detector Receives its ‘Eyes’
The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter detector, which will soon start its search for the elusive particles thought to account for a majority of matter in the universe, had the first of its “eyes” delivered late last week. The first of two large arrays of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) — powerful light sensors that can detect the…
Scientists Measure the Mysterious Casimir Torque
Researchers from the University of Maryland have for the first time measured an effect that was predicted more than 40 years ago, called the Casimir torque. When placed together in a vacuum less than the diameter of a bacterium (one micron) apart, two pieces of metal attract each other. This is called the Casimir effect.…
Jury Deliberations Continue in Meningitis Trial
Jurors serving on the trial of six former employees of the New England Compounding Center were scheduled to return to federal court on Dec. 10, after failing to reach a verdict the previous week. The NECC has been blamed for a 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak—thought to have been caused by improper cleanroom practices—that killed over…
Pacemakers Powered by Light
University of Chicago scientists have pioneered a technique that could one day create a pacemaker that operates using tiny pulses of light. “It’s essentially a tiny solar cell, which stimulates cardiac muscle in a very unique way,” said Bozhi Tian, an associate professor of chemistry who examines innovative ways to control biology with light. In…
Facility Profile: Datwyler Production Plant
Professional Profile: Brisco Harward
Controlled Environments spoke with Brisco Harward, Director of Technical & Quality Services at Pharma Tech Industries. Brisco recently came to Pharma Tech with more than 25 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, with primary responsibilities ranging from technical support of manufacturing to FDA Quality Remediation. His work with dosage forms, controlled substances, and tropical products span…
Bonded Extension Lines
Qosina offers five bonded, off-the-shelf extension lines (part #s 33066-33070). Each of these extension lines are unique in that they are designed with a combination of components. Four of the sub-assemblies include both female and male luer locks, and one contains a stopcock. All five are assembled with female and male caps and various tubing…
Gene Therapy Shown to Reverse Sickle Cell Anemia
After over a decade of preclinical research and development, a new gene therapy treatment for sickle cell anemia (SCA) is reversing disease symptoms in two adults and showing early potential for transportability to resource-challenged parts of the world where SCA is most common. Preliminary data from a pilot Phase 1-2 clinical trial testing the gene-addition…
Sanitary Conveyors
Sanitary conveyors in the Pharmafill line from Deitz Co. feature a design that promotes complete cleaning without any disassembly required. The food-grade conveyors set a dust-resistant, acetal tabletop chain belt a full 1-1/2 inches above the conveyor body to allow full access to the stainless steel structure and to both sides of the plastic belting while the…
DEADLINE EXTENDED – Apply to be a Lab Design Conference Speaker!
Did you miss your chance to apply to speak at the Lab Design Conference? Good news — the deadline has been extended to December 10! The 2019 Lab Design Conference will be held on April 29-May 1, 2019, at the Hyatt Regency Orlando in Florida. Since 2002, the conference — presented by Laboratory Design, a…
Revolutionary Nanosatellites to Monitor Earth Weather
The first “Pioneer” mission lifted early on Nov. 29 from Sriharikota, India, with the two inventive little nanosatellites now circling the Earth, ready for action. The shoebox-sized satellites were launched at 04:27 GMT into low Earth orbit by the Indian Space Research Organisation’s PLSV launcher, and opened their first communication windows with their owner, Spire…
Cleanroom Snapshot: NASA Telescope’s Special Carriage Ride
Facility Profile: Mustang Bio Cell Therapy Manufacturing Facility
Size: 27,000 sf Project team: DPS Group (engineering, architectural services), Hodess Cleanroom Construction (construction, prime consultant) Description: Mustang Bio’s new CAR T and gene therapy development facility is located within UMass Medicine Science Park in Worcester. It will support the clinical development and commercialization of Mustang’s CAR T and gene therapy product candidates and enable…
Professional Profile: Kathryn Weingart
Controlled Environments spoke with Kathryn Weingart, Vice President of Quality at Pharma Tech Industries. Kathryn recently joined Pharma Tech with over 30 years of quality assurance, regulatory, and technical operations experience in regulated industries. Her career has included quality assurance roles with Qualitest, Pfizer, Cardinal Health, and Procter & Gamble, where her work primarily involved…
Laboratory Fume Hoods
UniFlow Laboratory Fume Hoods are offered by HEMCO. TheAireStream low flow high performance fume hoods feature an exclusive all composite resin construction that is chemical resistant, flame retardant, lightweight, and meets UL 1805, SEFA 1, ASHRAE 110, and ANSI Z9.5 standards. These hoods have a molded one piece seamless composite resin interior fume chamber that…
Single-Use Data-Loggers
Each single-use data logger from Cole-Parmer is traceable to NIST standards and comes with a Traceable® certificate which ensures accuracy. The data loggers are ideal for anyone who needs to make sure the temperature or temperature and humidity of their items remain at set parameters during transport, storage or experiments in the food, pharmaceutical, or…
LAST DAY to Apply to be a Lab Design Conference Speaker!
The 2019 Lab Design Conference will be held on April 29-May 1, 2019, at the Hyatt Regency Orlando in Florida. The conference planning committee is seeking qualified speakers — but TODAY is the deadline to apply! Since 2002, the Lab Design Conference — presented by Laboratory Design, a sister publication of Controlled Environments — has provided…
What’s in Store for Controlled Environments in 2019
Every year, when the final issue of Controlled Environments comes out in November/December, I like to give a summary of what we have accomplished throughout the year and what you can expect when January arrives. The year 2018 saw Controlled Environments move to an all-digital format. We also conducted our fourth annual Cleanroom Trends and Salary Survey, where we surveyed…
Understanding and Mitigating Cleanroom Risks
Risk identification/mitigation can be found on the opposite side of the crisis coin — and every facilities pro would benefit from identifying and planning for scenarios that can bring a controlled environments facility to its knees. Often, future focused initiatives are pushed off, as we battle day-to-day issues. Finding the way to plan for resilience will pay huge dividends.…
Critical Environments: Considerations in Selecting Cleanroom Gloves
Cleanroom gloves, a key consumable, are essential in managing and minimizing contamination in critical environments. This does not come as a surprise, as cleanroom gloves are among the very few consumables that come into direct contact with the product. While different industries differ in their requirements of the type of gloves employed, there remains a similar goal: to reduce and minimize…