Laboratory Automation Curriculum at Keck Graduate Institute

A novel curriculum in laboratory automation and high-throughput technologies has been developed at the Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) over the past five years as part of the professional masters degree program in applied life sciences. The goal of this curriculum has been four-fold: (1) motivate study by describing the need for automation through several example problems in combinatorial biological discovery, (2) provide elements of fundamental engineering science that are required for the development of the technologies and tools that enable automation, (3) provide opportunities for the students to see and use state-of-the-art instruments, learn about existing industry standards, and to visit integrated laboratories that perform high-throughput research, and (4) introduce scientific discoveries and new technologies that could have future impact on laboratory automation and discuss current trends, and project future trends in this field.