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The process of connecting genetic parts—DNA assembly—is a foundational technology for synthetic biology. Microfluidics present an attractive solution for minimizing use of costly reagents, enabling multiplexed reactions, and automating protocols by integrating multiple protocol steps. However, microfluidics fabrication and operation can be expensive and requires expertise, limiting access to the technology. With advances in commodity digital fabrication tools, it is now possible to directly print fluidic devices and supporting hardware. 3D printed micro- and millifluidic devices are inexpensive, easy to make and quick to produce. We demonstrate Golden Gate DNA assembly in 3D-printed fluidics with reaction volumes as small as 490 nL, channel widths as fine as 220 microns, and per unit part costs ranging from $0.61 to $5.71. A 3D-printed syringe pump with an accompanying programmable software interface was designed and fabricated to operate the devices. Quick turnaround and inexpensive materials allowed for rapid exploration of device parameters, demonstrating a manufacturing paradigm for designing and fabricating hardware for synthetic biology., United States. Dept. of Defense. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering (Air Force Contract FA8721-05-C-0002)

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2015., Cataloged from PDF version of thesis., Includes bibliographical references (pages 49-51)., This thesis presents an investigation into the development of a series of devices that alter our relationship to time. The intention behind each of these devices is to help people become more aware of the temporality that is at the core of our being. Time pressure comes from the networks of timekeeping that surround us. It's not just our clocks and watches. Time is synchronized across devices, cities, and continents. Networked time regulates our lives today more than ever before. Modern timekeeping has shaped our culture into one that squeezes productivity out of even the most inconceivably small time increments. Time was once kept at a distance. Church towers and grandfather clocks marked time in space. As technology advanced, timekeeping has shifted inwards and closer to our bodies. Time is embedded in watches, phones, and every digital electronic device that surrounds us. Today, fewer people wear watches and keep time for themselves. We've outsourced our sense of time to systems that we don't understand. Our phones and computers display time accurately without intervention or maintenance, making watches seem redundant. Those who are less aware of time are surrendering to an unfamiliar force. They invite environmental pressures to pull their sense of time away from an innate internal awareness towards a grossly distorted sense that views time as a commodity. Modern timekeeping might help with efficiency, but we are busier today than ever before. While we've shaped our temporal perception through the increasing precision of standardized time, human psychology remains connected to time, but not congruent to the physics of it. If we can become more aware of our relationships to time, we can manage our expectations and counteract temporal illusions, misperceptions, and distortions. The devices presented here call for a more mindful approach to timekeeping. Rather than pushing time into the periphery, I hope to empower people to make time their own. We can challenge th, by Che-Wei Wang., S.M.