laboratory, noun
a place equipped for experimental study
a safe haven
About
This website presents a selection of my academic and personal projects. You can think of it as my garage or lab, if you will.
The academic research section highlights the key projects with which I have been involved over the past decade while working at the university.
My personal projects relate to my home laboratory, including the Linux servers, as well as miscellaneous memos and scripts. In addition, I have made some of my code available on GitHub. This includes MATLAB classes for controlling several instruments and devices.
You can also find my professional CV and more examples of my work on the social media sites listed at the top of this page.
Please read the sections below for more information about the projects I'm currently working on.
Have a great day.
Academic research
MS imaging
For the past ten years, I have been the principal developer of a cutting edge imaging platform based on mass spectrometry (MS), with features that do not yet exist in commercial imaging instruments.
- Direct analysis of frozen samples
- Swappable ion source
- Dynamic imaging resolution
- Microscopy-guided analysis
- 3D imaging capability
Experience acquired
- Fundamental mass spectrometry, spatial metabolomics & imaging workflows
- Integration engineering: Designing and building complex analytical setups
- Software development: MATLAB-based data acquisition and control software and Python-based data analysis tools
- Controllers and sensors: Fine tuning of temperatures, mass flows, humidity
- Optics and lasers: Sampling, illumination, microscopy
- Electronic prototyping: Arduinos, multimeters, oscilloscopes, waveform generators
- CAD drawning and 3D printing: Part design for mounts, enclosures
Single cell analysis
I have developed an IR laser ablation based sampling and analysis capability for single cell metabolomics with MS.
- Custom-built light microscope with 1-µm resolving power
- Microscope-guided targeting of single cells for MS analysis
- Automated deep learning -based segmentation of cells and their sizes
- Matching of IR laser spot size with cell size
- Cell-to-cell MS analysis via IR laser ablation sampling
- Imaging by pooling data from individual tissue cells
Experience acquired
- Light microscopy: Design, illumination, optics
- Coordination of stage movement, microscopy and laser focusing to sample single cells
- AI integration: deployment of image segmentation models via APIs
Ion sources
The development of the imaging platform and single cell analysis capability has also led to work on the development of IR-LAAPPI and IR-LAESI ion sources. I have also demonstrated a novel soft X-ray ion source for liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS).
- Infrared laser ablation atmospheric pressure photoionisation (IR-LAAPPI)
- Infrared laser ablation electrospray ionisation (IR-LAESI)
- Soft X-ray atmospheric pressure photoionisation (SX-APPI)
Experience acquired
- Mass spectrometry, ionisation, reaction pathways, gas-phase chemistry
- Electrospray ionisation, photoionisation, soft X-rays
- Laser ablation, laser sources, laser optics, beam alignment
- Nebulisers and emitters: Designs, heaters, electrospray modes
- Solvent and gas introduction: Pumps, valves, capillaries, connectors
- Waveform generation, positioning techniques, vibration isolation
Homework
Homelab
My homelab consists of a setup of Linux servers, networking equipment and other tech hardware, and it has taught me many IT skills through experimentation. For example, this website is hosted by my setup.
Experience acquired
- General requirements: Hardware, software, management, thermals/power/noise
- Linux: Advanced desktop & server use, sysadmin tasks and responsibilities
- Virtualization: Virtual machines, Linux containers, Proxmox
- Containerization: Deployment, Docker
- Networking: Firewalls, routing, DNS, VPN, WireGuard, reverse proxies
- Hosting: Running web services, CMS, web design