Today, we are featuring remote access developments at the Organic and Macromolecular Synthesis Facility at the Molecular Foundry. The Organic facility is devoted to the chemical synthesis and application of porous soft, hard and hybrid materials as bulk solids, thin films, or in confined geometries. Typical applications for new materials synthesized in the Organic facility are gas and liquid phase separations, membranes, electrochemical energy storage, catalysis, and more.
Transcript:
Shannon Ciston
Welcome to this episode of Foundary from Home, a podcast to highlight new developments in remote, virtual, and physically distanced user access to the Molecular Foundry. I’m Shannon Ciston, the User Program Director at the Molecular Foundry. Today we’re featuring remote access developments at the Organic and macromolecular synthesis facility of the Molecular Foundry. The Organic facility is devoted to the chemical synthesis and application of porous soft, hard and hybrid materials as bulk solids, thin films or in confined geometries. Typical applications for new materials synthesized in the organic facility are gas and liquid phase separations, membranes, electrochemical energy storage catalysis, and more. Our guest today is Organic facility Scientific Engineering Associate Dr. Steve Shelton. Thanks for being here with us.
Steve Shelton
Great to be here.
Shannon Ciston
In this episode, Steve will highlight for us some ways that the Organic facility is implementing video training modules and a variety of techniques for distanced user support. Steve, let’s start with what the Organic facility is doing in terms of video training modules. Can you tell us what approach your facility took to developing videos?
Steve Shelton
Yes, during the restart, we prioritized instruments that were in high demand with low hazard. I used Camtasia video editing software, which is very intuitive, and lets me easily upload the videos to YouTube. The videos primarily focus on sample loading procedures and the most critical information for working safely. For any more details, I’ll direct them to the standard operating procedure for operating the relevant software. If they like, I’ll also email them the SOP before they arrive at the facility so they have an idea of what to expect during the training.
Shannon Ciston
Thanks. And which instruments currently have those training videos?
Steve Shelton
So far, I’ve made training videos for the DSC, that’s differential scanning calorimetry, the probe station, and the Dektak profilometer. I know Tracy Maddox in the Inorganic facility also has a video for the Cary 5000 UV-Vis instrument. And we have the exact same model so I direct users to her video for training on that.
Shannon Ciston
Right. And you mentioned that Liana also developed an onboarding video for new users. Can you tell us about that as well?
Steve Shelton
Yes, my colleague, Liana has prepared a helpful video to show users where they can find their cubicles, lab coats, safety eyewash stations, and fire extinguishers, among many other things on the on the floor. It also shows signs posted on doors that give the occupancy limit for that location. For example, there’s a one person limit on the elevator. And we also remind users of best practices for working in the labs as well. When using the glove boxes, for example, we ask that they wipe down the gloves and the viewing windows before and after using it with IPA (isopropyl alcohol), and they can find bottles of IPA distributed throughout the lab. Users can also find directions on how to dispose of chemical waste, which is a common question for new arrivals.
Shannon Ciston
Are you doing anything else differently in terms of getting people started in the facility?
Steve Shelton
We provide users a list of trainings that they can complete off site before their arrival. This includes a couple of briefings regarding how to work safely during the pandemic. Preparation ahead of the on site visit is really important. We discuss the experiment as much as possible beforehand, to make sure it’s feasible to complete in one or two shifts. One change that we made, for example, is that we’ve only been allowing room temperature measurements on our probe station because cooling down the chamber can take so long, it’s not feasible at a time like this. And zoom has been a really good tool for having a conversation between the users and staff to communicate, answer questions and get ready.
Shannon Ciston
That’s great. Thanks, Steve. So once users get on site, I understand you need to be mindful about lab density and physical distance, but the staff in your facility have some creative ways to be present from a distance to provide support for users. Can you tell us about a few of those techniques?
Steve Shelton
Sure. I’ll give you an example from each of our technical staff. Liana has found the Help Lightning app really helpful for training users on the NMR. This app is a little like FaceTime, but it has AI incorporated in it. Users can point their phone to show Liana exactly what they’re looking at, so she can tell them how to operate the equipment. I know Eric has ordered wireless Bluetooth transmitters that users connect to their laptops. While the staff is in their offices, users can talk to them and ask for advice. I’ve also used it along with zoom for training on the evaporator. The other tool I’ve used a lot is the robot from Omni labs. This robot is basically a tablet on wheels and one of the main ways I’ve used it is for onboarding. I’ll put the robot in the hallway and load up the onboarding video using the share screen function while I’m in my office. The users can watch it and even walk down the hallway with the robot to see all the features mentioned in the video. I’ve also used it for training in the lab. I can use the camera to see what the user sees, and then speak to them from my office to provide instructions.
Shannon Ciston
Thanks a lot for sharing all that, Steve. I know our user community appreciates how the Organic staff are responding to be innovative in supporting user science right now. Are there any final words you want to add before we wrap it up?
Steve Shelton
We’re certainly trying to accommodate as many users as we can safely. There are safety constraints, but we want users to know that there are opportunities to get access. Great, thank you.
Shannon Ciston
All right. That’s all we have time for in this episode. Thanks a lot, Steve, for sharing with us about these innovations in the Organic facility. And thanks for listening everyone. Please look for more episodes of Foundry from Home as we continue to highlight developments in virtual, remote, and distanced user training and access throughout the Molecular Foundry.
This has been a production of the Molecular Foundry’s User Program Office and Communications team. The music used in this production was “Still room on the night train” by Ketsa courtesy of the Free Music Archive. The Molecular Foundry is a US Department of Energy Office of Science user facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
