Project

Glass Chip Thermal System

A thermally isolated heating plate and custom heat sink that enables protein analysis through gel electrophoresis on a glass chip.

Custom Heat Sink Thermally Isolated Tight Datum Control
Glass chip thermal system CAD model
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Problem

Gel electrophoresis-based protein analysis on a glass chip required a heating plate that stayed thermally isolated from surrounding components while minimizing datum feature difference and maximizing thermal efficiency.

Glass chip thermal system prototype 1
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Action

  • Introduced a thermally isolated heating plate design, focused on minimizing datum feature difference between mating components.
  • Designed a custom heat sink to maximize thermal efficiency and keep heat localized to the glass chip rather than dissipating into the surrounding assembly.
  • Iterated the design across several prototypes, running thermal simulations to validate isolation and heat sink performance before committing to a final geometry.
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Result

  • Delivered a thermally isolated heating system that maintained consistent temperature at the glass chip, supporting reliable protein analysis via gel electrophoresis.
  • Demonstrated an understanding of CNC machining capabilities, heat transfer principles, and CAD simulations.
Glass chip thermal system simulation heat map
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