User:Andy Maloney/Notebook/Lab Notebook of Andy Maloney/2009/02/24/Wetlab

Initial thoughts

I contacted VWR to see if they would help with the design of our wet lab but of course, they haven't returned my call.

So, I went straight to the horse and found a company called Kewaunee that makes just what we want. I contacted them and I got a call back within a day. The guy I spoke to is named Thomas Thilman and he seemed eager to help me with designing a wet lab. And, yes, he said he would design the whole thing for me if I supplied dimensions and what we want. What a guy! What a company! The requirements for our wet lab are as follows:

• 4 stations with seating and ample work space.
• Wired for power & data and possibly gas.
• 1 sink on one end.
• Lower cabinets for each station.
• Either upper shelving or cabinets for all stations.

Larry and I determined that having a modular wet lab setup is the best thing. Anthony agreed. Our reasoning for making the system semi-permanent as opposed to permanent is because,

• We may not be in this lab forever so we can move the whole thing if we need to.
• The system has the ability to be modified as our needs change.
• If something breaks, we can replace it easier.
• Possibly cheaper.

Plus, the modular system looks cooler (see below).

I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of having private workstations. While I feel everyone in a lab needs their space, there are somethings that should be left as common areas. Common areas mean that that area will be clean or cleaned every day. While private areas are notoriously messy and usually people are not driven to clean them.

Of course, then you have those people that know an area is common and still they put their personal junk in it with no regard to the fact that common areas = clean areas.