Danny Chan
Saturday, August 16, 2025: 9:00 pm (Tobin 201/202): bioartbot.org/ is a project for encouraging curiosity in microbiology and lab automation through creative expression. It is an open source project built on a pipetting robot that draws user submitted pixel art by placing colored bacteria on agar. Using the story of the BioArtBot development as a guide, this talk will provide a basic overview of the technologies (hardware, software, and wetware) implemented in the BioArtBot. It will describe how lab automation is used in biotech companies, how it might be used by amateur/community investigators, and how the BioArtBot is an interesting framework to contribute to if you are looking to skill-up in lab automation. It will also describe how the living pigments for this project were created and sourced, how you might create/source your own, and the amazing diversity of living chemical refineries that are bacteria. So if you're interested in robots and bacteria, come find out how we can command our tireless inorganic creations to deposit aesthetically pleasing arrangements of the ancient form-factor of all life.