MAE Seminar – Mechanical Design in Biotech: An Engineered Platform for Perfusion Culture

Details

Dear Undergraduate and Graduate Students, Faculty, and Staff,
You are invited! UF Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering’s Seminar Series
This is a perfect opportunity to enjoy some coffee, cookies, and captivating talks! These sessions feature amazing guest speakers, from academic trailblazers and industry movers to our very own faculty candidates showing off their expertise and fresh perspectives.
Come for the treats, stay for the engaging discussions, and connect with fellow MAE enthusiasts. Everyone is welcome!

Mechanical Design in Biotech: An Engineered Platform for Perfusion Culture

April 10, 2025, at 12:50pm, Location: MAE-A 303

Dr. Jack Famiglietti
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer
Aurita Bioscience
Gainesville, Florida

Abstract
Engineering design exists at the intersection of creativity, analysis, and real-world constraints. As an engineer, educator, and entrepreneur, my teaching philosophy is rooted in hands-on learning, iterative problem solving, and real-world application. My experience as a teacher is diverse: from teaching sailing to tutoring to running laboratory training workshops. Additionally, as a startup founder, I have firsthand experience navigating the challenges faced in bringing an idea from concept to commercial product in an interdisciplinary research area: bioengineering.

In this talk, I will explore the design process as it applies to the 48-well Darcy Plate, the most popular perfusion cell culture system I developed with my team at Aurita Bioscience. The 48-well Darcy Plate passively drives flow, via hydraulic head, from a feed media reservoir across a microporous membrane and up into a sample well where a 3D cell culture is supported by a granular hydrogel material. Operationally, it is a simple tool, yet it is the outcome of a nontrivial process of modelling, analysis, and extensive prototyping.

Biography
Dr. Jack Famiglietti is an engineer with interdisciplinary career experience and a life-long passion for mentorship and hands-on learning. After earning his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida, he co-founded Aurita Bioscience as a vehicle for research, development, and commercialization of the 3D cell culture platform he helped pioneer. He has overseen the full development process of multiple novel products requiring various manufacturing processes from chemical synthesis to injection molding. Not only has he designed and manufactured these tools, but he has developed all instructional materials needed to use them, ran training workshops, taught one-on-one, and presented complex protocols to a wide range of audiences including students and professionals. Dr. Famiglietti looks forward to bringing his practical experience into the classroom with a student focused teaching approach aiming to help build comfort and technical proficiency in the skills needed to succeed in the modern, globalized workforce.

MAE Faculty Host: Umesh Persad