MicroTAS Video Competition Winner – A “Bad and Boujee” Rap Parody

The MicroTAS Video Competition 2017, sponsored by Dolomite Microfluidics and Lab on a Chip, and supported by the Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society, saw first prize awarded to Anu Kaushik and Alex Trick, PhD candidates in the BioMEMS and Single Molecule Dynamics Lab at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Anu explained the idea behind their entertaining and creative video: “A few months before the conference, we realized that we both had an interest in hip-hop and rap, as well as playing around with music-making software. We thought a rap parody explaining our research would be a great way to integrate our work with our love of music. The video describes our research on droplet microfluidics for single-cell analysis and the benefits of using this technique to discretize cells from tissue samples to achieve faster detection, increase signal to noise ratio and analyze cellular heterogeneity.”

Anu and Alex received a $1,500 prize to spend on Dolomite Microfluidics equipment, and described their future plans: “We are honoured to win the award, and the time spent recording and producing the video has paid off. Hopefully, sharing it online will help to spread the word about droplet microfluidics. Our research aligns well with Dolomite Microfluidics’ extensive line of products, and we intend to use our winnings to supplement our lab equipment with syringe pumps, flow sensors and surfactants.”