Smart Biolabs of the Future

Sascha Beutel  is Group Leader at the Institute of Technical Chemistry and Head of the Central Unit for Dangerous Goods and Waste at the Leibniz University of Hannover (LUH), Germany. His research activities are mostly focused on biotechnological topics, e.g. bioprocess engineering for prokaryotic cultivations, downstream processing, bioanalytics and sensor developments. One further area of interest is the digitalization of laboratory infrastructure, ranging from basic integration of lab devices to interaction means for the collaboration of the operator with the system. He has authored +100 peer-reviewed research articles, book chapters and patents. Since 2021 he is supernumerary Professor for Technical Chemistry at the LUH.

Felix Lenk leads the research group SmartLab Systems at the Dresden University of Technology (TUD), Germany, and holds a Ph.D. in Bioprocess Engineering from the same university. His research focuses on the next generationof sensor systems (NGS), the Computer Vision for biological samples, laboratory automation around the culture dish, as well as technology for the Lab of the Future. Until 2009, he studied automation and control at the TUD, Germany, and the University of Calgary, Canada. From 2009 to 2010, he joined the plant automation industry. He has authored several peer-reviewed publications as well as two book chapters and holds numerous patents. In 2017 he has been recognized with the Bionection Transfer Trophy. Dr. Felix Lenk represents the TUD at the Society for Laboratory Automation & Screening (SLAS), and at the Society for Standardization in Laboratory Automation (SiLA).