MicroTAS 2026 | 18-22 October 2026

MicroTAS 2026 will again have Industry TechTalks as part of the conference program, providing our benefactors with the opportunity to deliver a 20-minute presentation within one of the parallel sessions of the technical program.

Participating Companies

Monday, 19 October

Session 1A2 - Microphysiological Systems, Organ-on-Chip and Organoids I: Engineering Organ-on-Chip Platforms
Title: CUSTOMIZED MICROPLATES FOR ORGANOID AND SPHEROID CULTURE: TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE, ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS, AND INDUSTRY CASE STUDIES
Affiliation: HiComp Microtech
Presenter: Jing Chen
Time: 12:20

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Well plates designed for 2D culture constrain organoid and spheroid work through inconsistent spheroid size, sample loss during medium exchange, poor long-term viability, and imaging difficulty. This Tech Talk maps four customized microplate architectures--in-well features, microwell arrays, insert and sandwich plates, and microfluidic perfusion plates--and compares their capabilities. It then covers the engineering behind them: high-aspect-ratio micropillars, application-tailored thin-film well bottoms, multilayer perfusion structures, and patterned glass-bottom electrodes, realized by combining injection-molded SBS bodies with selectively integrated functional layers. Two industry case studies close the talk: MASH liver-spheroid disease modeling and high-throughput 3D tumor compound screening across 27 cell lines.

Session 1B2 - Wearables and Hand-Held Devices I: Point-of-Care Molecular Diagnostics
Title: MICROFLUIDIC CHIP DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURING FOR AI-ENABLED DIAGNOSTICS: CHALLENGES AND PROTOTYPING STRATEGIES
Affiliation: STRATEC Consumables GmbH
Presenter: Maximilian Pitzek
Time: 12:20

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This talk presents innovative approaches for improving the quality and reproducibility of microfluidic prototypes while maintaining the flexibility needed for rapid design iterations. It explores hybrid manufacturing methods, advanced 3D printing, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to optimize chip designs before fabrication. Using the FDA-approved Cytovale Intellisep Chip for rapid sepsis diagnosis as a case study, the talk demonstrates how CFD predictions, prototype manufacturing, metrology, and patient-sample testing can be integrated to validate and improve microfluidic chip performance. The results highlight the potential of combining flexible prototyping with manufacturing-level reproducibility for reliable and scalable microfluidic development.

Session 1C2 - Microfluidics as Facilitating Technology II: Droplet Platforms for Therapeutics and Synthesis
Title: QUASI ALL AQUEOUS METHOD FOR THE GENERATION OF ALGINATE MICROBEADS ADAPTED TO MULTICELLULAR SPHEROID CULTURE
Affiliation: Secoya Technologies
Presenter: Adrien Dewandre
Time: 12:20

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Encapsulating cells in alginate microbeads provides controlled microenvironments for multicellular spheroid formation and advanced 3D cell culture. In this talk we present a microfluidic method to generate highly monodisperse alginate microbeads. Using a non-embedded co-flow focusing microfluidic setup, this approach forms double emulsions with an alginate core and a sacrificial oil shell, enabling uniform gelation and high cell viability. This strategy allows reproducible bead production without complex chip engineering, making microfluidic spheroid encapsulation accessible to standard biology laboratories.

Tuesday, 20 October

Session 2B1 - Cell Sorting and Sample Preparation
Title: FROM CAPILLARY-DRIVEN BIOASSAYS TO 3D MICROSCOPY FOR MICROFLUIDICS
Affiliation: Microqubic AG
Presenter: Yuksel Temiz
Time: 10:20

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This presentation highlights the journey from developing bioassays based on capillary-driven microfluidics to creating a new generation of programmable microscopy systems. It presents key advances in point-of-care diagnostics, including novel approaches to fluid control and reagent integration, while examining the optical inspection challenges associated with microfluidic devices. Addressing these challenges ultimately led to the founding of Microqubic AG and the development of modular, motorized 3D microscopes specifically designed for researchers working with microfluidics and MEMS. The presentation concludes by demonstrating how advanced optical inspection can be made more accessible, adaptable, and affordable for both research and industrial applications.

Session 2A2 - Microphysiological Systems, Organ-on-Chip and Organoids III: Tumor Models and Precision Medicine
Title: MECHANOBIOLOGY STUDIES WITH PRESSURE-DRIVEN MICROFLUIDICS ACROSS BIOLOGICAL SCALES: FROM SINGLE CELLS TO ORGAN-ON-CHIP SYSTEMS
Affiliation: Elveflow
Presenter: Louise Fournier
Time: 12:40

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Mechanobiology relies on precisely controlled mechanical cues to reproduce physiologically relevant environments in vitro. This talk will explore how pressure-driven microfluidics can generate and control hydrostatic pressure, shear stress, cyclic deformation, and compression across biological scales. Through recent examples ranging from single-cell studies to organ-on-chip and microphysiological systems, it will highlight how controlled fluidic environments can support more reproducible and dynamic models for mechanobiology, disease modelling, and organoid research.

Session 2B2 - Photonics I: Optical Sensing and Imaging for Bioanalysis
Title: STRUCTURING FLOW AND FUNCTION: TWO-PHOTON POLYMERIZATION FOR MICROFLUIDICS AND MICROPHYSIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
Affiliation: UpNano GmbH
Presenter: Nemanja Sikanic
Time: 12:20

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This Tech Talk presents how two-photon polymerization (2PP) expands the possibilities of microfabrication for microfluidics and microphysiological systems using UpNano's NanoOne platform. It covers high resolution fabrication of microfluidic devices, direct printing inside injection molded chips, and rapid master production enabled by Adaptive Resolution technology. The presentation highlights applications including thrombosis reducing microfluidic platforms for LVAD research, hydrogel ablation for organ-on-a-chip bladder models, and high precision 3D bioprinting of perfusable vascular networks. Together, these examples demonstrate how 2PP enables physiologically relevant in vitro models with exceptional geometric precision and manufacturing flexibility.

Session 2C2 - Wearables and Hand-Held Devices II: Portable Diagnostic Platforms
Title: INEXPENSIVE-BY-DESIGN MYKEE PLATFORM FOR POINT OF USE ISOTHERMAL AMPLIFICATION REACTIONS WITH ITS FIRST REAL-WORLD APPLICATION IN FOOD QUALITY TESTING
Affiliation: Micronit BV
Presenter: Marko Blom
Time: 12:40

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The MYKEE platform is an ultra-compact, battery-operated, point-of-use system for isothermal nucleic acid amplification, designed to simplify field testing. It combines a reusable web-app-controlled reader with disposable cartridges containing six dried-reagent reaction wells. Integrated microfluidics enable sample metering, controlled filling, and cross-contamination prevention. The reader provides heating, multiple excitation sources, and optical read-out channels for each zone. Its first commercial application targets food and drink spoilage detection using LAMP assays for bacteria such as Acetobacter and Lactobacillus, plus an internal control. Results are semi-quantitative, based on time-to-positivity thresholds, with broader diagnostic applications already demonstrated.

Wednesday, 21 October

Session 3A2 - Microphysiological Systems, Organ-on-Chip and Organoids V: Engineering Tissue Microenvironments
Title: BRIDGING THROUGHPUT AND PHYSIOLOGICAL RELEVANCE IN ORGAN-ON-A-CHIP
Affiliation: Leitat
Presenter: Pooya Azizian
Time: 12:20

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We present the OGYX organ-on-a-chip (OoC) plates as cost-effective, scalable tools that make physiologically relevant /in vitro/ models more accessible. Our OoC plates are designed to overcome the trade-off between throughput, biological relevance, and cost in drug testing. Their 384-well-plate-compatible format enables researchers to generate and screen multiple independent OoCs in parallel using standard laboratory equipment. Vertical detection windows facilitate imaging and analysis, while the membrane-free architecture supports 2D cellular layers atop 3D multicellular constructs. The platforms are demonstrated through Joint-on-a-Chip and Liver-on-a-Chip models, with biological validations confirming tissue-level interactions, inflammatory responses, and long-term functionality.

Session 3C2 - Microfluidics as Facilitating Technology VI: Novel Microfluidic Technologies
Title: SCALABLE MICRO STRUCTURING OF GLASS FOR MICROFLUIDIC AND PHOTONIC APPLICATIONS
Affiliation: IMT Masken and Tellungen AG
Presenter: Lukas Greuter
Time: 12:20

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This talk explores how the combination of microfluidics and optics enables powerful next-generation lab-on-a-chip systems for life sciences and diagnostics. By leveraging established semiconductor manufacturing technologies, scalable and cost-effective glass-based components can be produced from prototype to high-volume manufacturing. Two innovative examples are presented: the integration of microlens arrays directly into microfluidic glass chips for high-throughput microscopy, and mirror-coated microfluidic channels that form Fabry - Pérot cavities to dramatically enhance imaging contrast of transparent biological samples. These examples demonstrate how advanced glass microfabrication can create novel analytical tools, paving the way for new diagnostic, research, and biomedical applications.

Session 3A4 - Microphysiological Systems, Organ-on-Chip and Organoids VI: Enabling Technologies for Advanced 3D Models
Title: ADVANCES IN 3D PRINTING BY TWO-PHOTON POLYMERIZATION FOR LIFE SCIENCE APPLICATIONS
Affiliation: Nanoscribe GmbH & Co KG
Presenter: Alexander Legant
Time: 17:50

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Discover how Two-Photon Polymerization (2PP) is pushing the boundaries of 3D microprinting for life science applications. This talk will highlight recent advances including Aligned 2-Photon Lithography (A2PL) and Two-Photon Grayscale Lithography (2GL), demonstrating how improved precision, printing speed, and surface quality enable new possibilities in cell scaffolds, tissue engineering, organ-on-a-chip systems, and engineered micro- and nanotopographies for studying cell - material interactions.