Abstract
The Boehringer Mannheim Award
The Boehringer Mannheim award for the most novel use of robotics in the clinical laboratory was announced at the International Conference on Automation Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Applied to Analytical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, held in San Diego in 1995. This prestigious award is given annually to the individual who is principally responsible for the most innovative developments in automating the clinical laboratory, with an emphasis on pre-analytical automation.
Sarath Krishnashwamy (second from left) receives the Boehringer Mannheim Award at ICAR ′95 from Georg Hoffmann (left) representing Boehringer Mannheim. Looking on are Conference Chairs Robin Felder (third from left) and Jan vanderGreef (right).
The first Boehringer Mannheim Award was presented to Karen Bodtker of Andronics (Vancouver, BC) in 1994 for her pioneering use of computer simulation modeling to predict the impact of automation on the clinical laboratory.
This year's Boehringer Mannheim Award was presented at ICAR ′95 (Laboratory Automation) conference in Montreux, Switzerland to Sarath Krishnashwamy from Acuity (Nashua, NH). Sarath graduated in 1994 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with an M.S. in engineering. He joined Acuity in Nashua, New Hampshire where he has been spearheading the development of novel uses of machine vision with his director John Agapakis.
One of these projects focused on the development of a pre-analytical clinical specimen processor (the AutoPrep) which employs a robot designed around linear motors (Yashkawa, Cypress, CA) and robot-guided vision control from Acuity. The AutoPrep was shown identifying clinical specimens in a rack, removing them, then sorting or placing the specimen into a centrifuge. After centrifugation, the AutoPrep removed the tubes and sorted them into the output rack.
For this pioneering work, Sarath received the Boehringer Mannheim Award as well as a check for $1000, which was presented to him at the awards ceremony by conference chairs Robin Felder and Jan van der Greef (conference chairs) and Georg Hoffmann, representing Boehringer Mannheim. Awardees are chosen by the scientific committee (Tony Beugelsdijk, Los Alamos National Laboratories, NM; Kjell Jannel, Pharmacia Opthalmics, Uppsala, Sweden; David Herold, Veterans Administration Medical Center and the University of California, San Diego; and Masahide Sasaki, Kochi Medical School, Kochi, Japan).
During the award presentation, Robin Felder, Ph.D. explained why Krishnashwamy was chosen to receive the award, “Sarath exemplifies the innovative investigator who has focused his creative talents on the automation challenges that face the clinical laboratory. He has relentlessly pursued his vision of an automated device which will flawlessly perform the pre-analytical tasks that expose laboratory personnel to the dangers of AIDS-infected specimens.”
Georg Hoffmann, M.D. added that, “Automation of the clinical laboratory presents one of the most important tasks of this decade and one of the challenges faced by Boehringer Mannheim. The Boehringer Mannheim award is presented at the ICAR (Laboratory Automation) conference to foster innovation and creativity and to encourage new talent to focus their attention in this area.”
K.S. Boos, from the Institut für Klinische Chimie, Munich, Germany, accepts the Hewlett Packard Award from Brian Holden, Hewlett Packard, Research and Development Manager for Sample Preparation/Sample Introduction.
The Hewlett Packard Award
The Hewlett Packard Award is given annually for outstanding strategic research in automated sample preparation. Hewlett Packard sells a complete line of laboratory analyzers and equipment and has taken a unified approach to modular connectivity that is compatible with most brands of laboratory robot.
The Hewlett Packard Award is intended to promote the development of more efficient ways of streamlining the sample preparation process and to reward an outstanding investigator in this field. The 1995 Hewlett Packard Awardee was K.S. Boos from the Institut für Klinische Chimie, Munich, Germany.
The Scitec/TNO Award
Scitec (Lausanne, Switzerland) and TNO Nutrition and Food Research, Biotechnology and Chemistry Institute (Zeist, The Netherlands) present two Scitec/TNO awards, one for best oral and the other for best poster presentation at the ICAR (Laboratory Automation) conference.
These awards, in their fourth year, are designed to recognize registrants for outstanding presentations. Criteria considered by award judges include the quality of the visual material, clear conveyance of the message of the presentation and indications of careful planning and organization. The presentation must have followed the conference guidelines and speakers should have completed their presentations within the allotted time frame. Furthermore, awardees are encouraged to prepare a manuscript of their presentation for publication.
Best Oral and Poster Presentation
The 1995 awardee for best oral presentation was N. Burggraf from the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland for his outstanding presentation on synchronized cyclic capillary electrophoresis (SCCE), a chemical separation system integrated onto a glass chip. This presentation outlined a novel technique that couples capillary electrophoresis and microfabrication technology.
The 1995 awardee for best poster presentation was R. Schäfer from Fachhochschule, Wiesbasden, Germany. His poster was entitled, “Simulation and graphical animation of robots and work cells in analytical laboratories.” Schäfer demonstrated the power of simulation coupled with animation to help plan automated laboratories.