(1/n) On Teachers Day in India (almost), I want to share story that’s buried deep in my heart. To dig it brings pain & joy - at the same time. This is the story of a remarkable teacher - who understood me better than I understood myself. Why read? It has a lesson for all of us. Prof Amitabh Mukherjee was a Computer Science/Robotics faculty at IIT Kanpur. I first met him in my first year of undergrad, confused if I wanted to pursue a degree in mechanical eng or computer science. I had good grades (rare for me), I could switch. He knew I loved building..

(1/n)Ever wondered how cells with intricate architecture survive "mechanical gymnastics" they seamlessly perform in living world - mind-bending extreme movements. Story features entangled organelles (ER), energy dissipation & discovery of "topological damping" inside a giant cell (2/n) In latest lab preprint - we share an unusual discovery of “topological metamaterial” we found in a giant cell & unique mechanical role for endoplasmic reticulum (ER) + vacuoles entangled together to dissipate energy during ultrafast motility. biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

(1/n) Can we build "perceptive" machines from mechanical parts? How "intelligent" were animals prior to evolution of nervous system? When does a collection of cells really become an organism? How can animal without muscles or neurons coordinate activity across millions of cells? (2/n) With an incredibly amazing graduate student in my lab - Matt Storm Bull - we went on a quest that almost lasted 7 years. This is a multi-scale story in 3 parts (arXiv ); subcellular, tissue and organism scale. What an amazing privilege to go on this expedition with you Matt

[1/n] 10 days ago we first shared blueprint of O2 conservation devices in context of #OxygenShortage; today we are releasing "Anmo2l" (means priceless in Hindi) - a ready to scale open design capable of saving 50-70% oxygen during O2 therapy. See anmo2l.org details. [2/n] The surge of COVID-19 cases in India and around the world has resulted in an acute oxygen shortage. We describe a simple, open source, and rapidly manufacturable conservation device for use with dual port nasal cannulas saving oxygen supply by almost two or three times.

[1/n] "Oxygen" - If you know anyone in India - it's one word you hear over & over. It's a critical life saving supply. In context of COVID surge in India, we are sharing open source design for "pulse dose" O2 conservation device - potential to save 50% O2. Not medical device yet. [2/n] The idea "pulse dose system" is simple. When you exhale, you don't take in O2 while the tank still delivers. For mild COVID19 patients on nasal cannula - this O2 is wasted. A simple pressure based detection & an electronic valve can release O2 only during inhalation.

(1/n)Excited to announce new course I have been planning for 5 years BioE271: Frugal Science frugalscience.org structured as global participatory class open to all. 50% Stanford students 50% global participant. Learn how to solve serious challenges with little bit of play (2/n)Together we will explore principles of frugal science to design scalable solutions with cost/performance rubric. With examples we will look at imp of fundamental science of everyday building blocks. We will juggle rigors of applied math/physics with creativity of a toy maker

(1/n) Excited to share #Pufferfish an open-source full-feature mechanical ventilator reference design capable of volume & pressure control with assist modes, both invasive/non-invasive ventilation & features necessary to support COVID19 patients pez-globo.org (2/n) Pufferfish is a result of a large scale intl collaborative effort - Pez-Globo - between my lab @Stanford, @brownengin @FluidDanamics & @UofU_Anesthesia @kkuck - clinicians, engineers, scientists, industrial/manufacturing partners @BharatForgeLtd @Waymo @BlackrockMicro

(1/n) Excited to share Handyfuge-LAMP; a low-cost & electricity-free centrifugation for isothermal SARS-CoV-2 detection in saliva. With COVID19 cases increasing globally, diagnostics needs to be accessible to everyone - including resource limited regions medrxiv.org/content/10.110… (2/n)This simple electricity-free LAMP protocol builds on fantastic work by Cepko lab at Harvard [medrxiv.org/content/10.110…], but with ahand powered centrifuge to make this assay completely electricity free for resource constrained settings. All you need is everything in this pic.

(1/n) Thrilled to share latest pre-print from lab - open imaging tool we have been working for the last 3 years "PlanktonScope V1 & 2" - modular (100x cost reduction) platform to enable citizens/sailors to study the world's largest habitat - our oceans! biorxiv.org/content/10.110… (2/n) Before describing the science/vision and the back story of 'Planktonscope" - it's important to highlight the incredible trio in lab that made this dream come true - led by Thibaut Polina @chevreuil3000, Adam Larson @planktonico & @hongquan_li - merging of art/design/science

(1/n) What does cotton-candy machine, van de graaff generator & COVID19 have in common? Here we present a possible solution for distributed, small scale manufacturing of N95 material for communities that can not source pre-approved masks. Pre print: arxiv.org/abs/2004.13494 (2/n) Disclaimer: If you have access to an authentic N95 mask, that is the best possible solution. But majority of parts around the world, N95 supplies have never existed. How can we boot-strap and support small scale manufacturing capacity for this critical supply locally?

In COVID19 crisis, health care workers globally need upward of 80M+ N95 grade masks. N95 masks are fibrous nano-materials made via melt-blown; large scale factory can only make 1M mask/day. What if another solution existed to this problem - Introducing Project 1000x1000 (1/n) Introducing Project 1000x1000: These are not normal times; we need new solutions. What if (big IF) 1000's of small businesses/fablab's could make specialized nano-materials for roughly 1000 to 10K N95 grade mask/day locally. 1000x1000 is a million mask/day produced locally. (2/n)

(1/n) Latest pre-print from lab! Octopi; open configurable high-throughput imaging platform. Led by an incredible graduate student @hongquan_li - we crack puzzle of automated low-cost malaria diagnosis. Remember, malaria still kills ~1/2million people/year biorxiv.org/content/10.110… (2/n)The empathy & wicked building skills that @hongquan_li brings to this project is innumerable. He has been the most amazing partner. Many people helped including Hazel (malaria samples), Maxime and Lucas (AI), Thibaut who traveled with me. Here is Hongquan supervising a build

Latest lab pre-print: Excited to share yet another strange beast from our zoo - Emergent hunting mechanics of Lacrymaria olor - an incredible ciliate. biorxiv.org/content/early/… Phenomenal work by Scott Coyle scottmcoyle.com - postdoc in lab leading this effort. This is a team effort, led by amazing postdoc Scott Coyle; who started as a biochemist - but morphed into a system biologist. Congrats to all co-authors including Scott, Ellie Fluam, Hongquan Li and @deepak_me90 To appreciate this story, start with movies: youtube.com/playlist?list=…