Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1047182
58 SMT007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2018 sities and community colleges that are region- ally adjacent to IPC member sites. These IPC Student Chapters will create opportunities for IPC members to connect with prospective job candidates and get them inter- ested in our industry. IPC members can hold lectures on the latest processes and how they were developed. Member sites can hold plant tours, offer internships, and give students an inside look at the industry. IPC Student Chapter members will have the opportunity to connect their coursework with real-world applications, expand their professional network, and apply for internships and scholarships. IPC is excited to start the IPC Education Foundation. It will allow us to engage the emerging workforce, improve the perception of our industry, prepare the talent pipeline, and offer scholarships to deserving students. This is just the beginning. Opportunities and achievements are limitless in partnership with the IPC membership. For more information about participating, please contact Colette Buscemi, IPC senior director of education programs. SMT007 John Mitchell is president and CEO of IPC—Association Connecting Electronics Industries. To read past columns or contact Mitchell, click here. A three-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Insti- tutes of Health will enable researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago to develop portable, easy-to-use sensors that can detect toxic metals in a single drop of blood. The sensors would allow for faster and cheaper research, as well as rapid detection of metals includ- ing manganese and lead—powerful neurotoxins that can affect cognitive development and neuromotor function. Small point-of-care sensors exist to detect lead in blood and water, but no such sensor exists to detect manganese. For researchers studying manga- nese in populations, they may only collect a few samples a day and wait until they have enough material to send to the lab for processing. According to Ian Papautsky, the Richard and Loan Hill Profes- sor of Bioengineering in the UIC College of Engineering and a principal investigator on the grant, this means the research is often slow, with results coming in months after samples are collected. "Our sensors could help speed research so that scientists can get answers faster," he said. Papautsky and his colleagues will work to develop and integrate several parts needed for the sensors: the chip on which a drop of blood or water is placed, the equip- ment that sends current through the chip to separate out the metal, the software to process the results, and the user inter- face that displays the results. "We want the sensor to be easy for anyone to use, and the results easy to interpret," Papautsky said. Ultimately, he thinks his sensors will cost around $10 each, not includ- ing the hardware and software, which need to be purchased just once. Photo: A closeup of the experi- mental sensor. (Source: University of Illinois) Researchers to Develop Sensors Able to Detect Manganese from Single Drop of Blood