Congrats to Martha Wang on receiving the Provost’s Excellence Award for PTK Faculty! 🎉🐢

The @NSF recently announced the awardees for its NSF Test Bed: Toward a Network of Programmable Cloud Laboratories, and Ginkgo is proud to be partnering with several of the winning teams to help bring the program to life. We’re excited to spotlight our first NSF PCL Test Bed node: the @UofMaryland's CRAB Lab — the Collaborative for the Realization of Autonomous Biomanufacturing. Led by Dr. William Bentley at the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR), a long-standing partnership between UMD and the @NIST, the CRAB Lab focuses on advancing smart biomanufacturing. By combining molecular and next-generation electronic measurements to monitor bioprocess "vital signs," the lab will use AI to optimize production in real time. Partners span NIST, the @US_FDA, the Advanced Mammalian Biomanufacturing Innovation Center, and the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals. Ginkgo plans to deploy its Reconfigurable Automation Carts (RACs) and Catalyst Software to deliver an automated, cloud-accessible biomanufacturing suite, complete with a digital twin sandbox for risk-free workflow design. "One of the most pressing challenges in bioprocessing is gaining rapid, easily accessible data on how the cell culture and overall process is operating," said Dr. Bentley. "With Ginkgo's RACs, Catalyst, and the CRAB Lab support, we will be able to incorporate state-of-the-art electronic measurements developed at UMD's Fischell Institute that could change the landscape." Congratulations to Dr. Bentley and the entire CRAB Lab team.

Big news: we're building autonomous labs for Caltech, MIT, Maryland and Northwestern. Details: investors.ginkgobioworks.com…

Hate the air puff at the eye doctor? 👁️💨 FireFly, developed by Fischell Institute engineers, measures eye pressure during a blink—no air puff needed. A new approach to improving glaucoma screening. fischellinstitute.umd.edu/ne…

It's #NationalInternDay and today we celebrate our interns in the Fischell Institute Summer Research Internship program! Thank you for all your hard work this summer Kaitlyn Ro, Alexandra Tombleson, Kishore Krishnakumar, Minh Nguyen, and Jaehee Yi

Excited to collaborate with @FischellInstUMD @NIST @Ginkgo @UMDscience @ClarkSchool @NSF on the CRAB Lab, advancing AI-enabled biomanufacturing through automation, data, and innovation. Congratulations to the entire team on this exciting NSF TIP award! go.umd.edu/crablab

NSF has awarded $17.3M to UMD to establish the CRAB Lab, one of only 20 Programmable Cloud Laboratory (PCL) Nodes funded nationwide. Led by Fischell Institute Director @webentley, the initiative will advance AI-enabled biomanufacturing.

This morning, Director William Bentley presented the morning keynote at the UMD MATRIX Lab Industry open house. Dr. Bentley discussed his role as Mtech, University of Maryland director and his career journey through academia and industry.

Happy Independence Day from the Fischell Institute 🎆

The final application deadline for MAGE on-campus domestic and all online applicants (both domestic & international) is July 31. Advance your technical expertise with an Master of Engineering or Graduate Certificate in Engineering. Head to mage.umd.edu/application-pro… for more!

Thrilled to announce that I’m officially an Associate Professor with tenure starting today! So thankful to my amazing students, mentors, collaborators, family, friends, and community for their support over the years! @UMDBIOE

Congratulations to several Fischell Institute Fellows, Affiliate Fellows, and Fischell Fellows who received funding through the University of Maryland's Grand Challenges Grants Program!

Congratulations to our Communications and Program Specialist Ambi Narula for being awarded the LGBTQ+ Equity Center's Pride and Advocacy Award 🏳️‍🌈 fischellinstitute.umd.edu/ne…

Meet Xin Xu, a postdoctoral researcher in Fischell Institute Fellow Ryan Sochol’s Bioinspired Advanced Manufacturing (BAM) Lab. fischellinstitute.umd.edu/ne…

Congratulations to our Assistant Director Martha Wang on being one of the receipts of the 2026 Professional Track Faculty Excellence Award by the Office of Faculty Affairs UMD Well deserved, Dr. Wang 👏

This $3.5 million grant from @NIH will greatly support @ClarkSchool's Christopher Jewell and his biomedical team in combating autoimmune diseases. today.umd.edu/3-5m-nih-grant…

Congratulations to all of our faculty, students, and researchers recognized at @UofMaryland's 2026 Invention of the Year awards! Top honors went to Christopher M. Jewell's team for ASTI, a new therapy to retrain immune system response. @FischellInstUMD eng.umd.edu/news/story/2026-…

What if the body’s immune system could be rewired not to attack itself—the same way a smoke alarm can be recalibrated to stop going off when there’s no fire? A team of University of Maryland researchers has developed a therapy to do exactly that, and on Tuesday it claimed the Life Sciences and Overall Winner categories in the university’s annual Invention of the Year competition. Called Antigen-Specific Immune Tolerance (ASIT), the technology creates microparticle “depots” injected directly into the lymph nodes—the body’s immune command centers—to correct how cells decide what to attack and what to leave alone. A single dose produces strong, long-lasting effects, and early results suggest it may even be able to repair tissue that has already been damaged by disease. Congratulations to Christopher M. Jewell and his lab! today.umd.edu/body-defense-b…

This Thursday, attend the BioPark’s reboot of Science in the City! This no-pressure happy hour offers the perfect opportunity to connect and mingle with innovators and resource leaders in the Baltimore region. luma.com/ibwd48ih

Fischell Institute Community Members Adira Colton (Ryan Sochol's BAM Lab) and Michael Bonthron (Eleonora Tubaldi's Lab) are this year's winners of UMD's 3 Minute Thesis Competition! Congrats Adira and Michael!