It’s taken the automotive industry years to get to the use of six-axis robots, but that was an evolution from very simple automation.
Routine laboratory work takes scientists away from research thinking and potentially is a turn-off to those considering a career in laboratories.However, this is not a simple path.
It requires a change in the skill sets required in laboratories: scientists who develop skills in equipment engineering and coding or hardware and software engineers who develop skills in science.The current education system does not produce cross-fertilised disciplines (although skills like coding are becoming more endemic in the cohorts entering the workforce today).. Perhaps a more pressing problem is the fact that the new workforce of the 2020s is not keen to travel into an office or laboratory to work, preferring working remotely.. For research work and smaller more specialised laboratories, the automation story is different.Without the scale, the investment in robotised systems against simple improvements in efficiency does not add up.
The released value of scientists being freed up to spend more time analysing, discussing, collaborating and thinking is not well quantified.Islands of automation may be seen as investable to allow new science.. Added to this there is not a joined-up ecosystem that looks at today’s smallscale testing as tomorrow’s large-scale roll-out, meaning that testing protocols are often developed in ways that inhibit or slow future automation.. Change, adaptation and flexibility.
A combination of emerging factors drive change in the activities and operations in a laboratory function..
In research laboratories, the work and team can change rapidly as new discoveries are made, equipment and technologies change, and there is the need to reduce or cease some operations while others are expanded..After having experienced a number of crits, you will become increasingly independent in seeing your work through other people's points of views.
This has definitely helped me develop into a better designer; allowing yourself to be critical and realising this critical mindset is what will make you a better designer.. BW: What's the worse thing about them?.M: Crits can definitely cause a lot of stress and nervosity, but as you go through your studies you start getting used to the format of presenting your work and understand what is expected of you, which makes the experience much more enjoyable and rewarding.
Students sometimes wrongly think of crits as an occasion for your tutors to tell you everything you've done wrong, but should instead be seen as an opportunity to discuss the project and its aims objectively.. BW: What one piece of advice would you give to an architecture student prepping for their crit?.M: I would probably say it's incredibly important to have a plan on how you will be presenting your work.
(Editor: All-in-One Shoes)