The thrill of discovery just isn’t the same when you’re alone. That’s one of the myriad reasons why collaboration is central to research at Harvard. Here, students, fellows, and researchers are common presences in Harvard’s laboratories, where they work together to make discoveries, further their studies, and co-author papers with professors. The labs are also groundbreaking environments in which robotic insects take flight and the study of energy conversion in the Nocera Lab makes inexpensive, clean energy. “Eureka!” just doesn’t have the same ring without someone else there to share the celebration.
Marissa Suchyta ’14 (left) and graduate student Alana Van Dervort study salamander regeneration in a lab at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Belinda von Niederhaeusern, a former fellow in stem cell and regenerative biology, works in the Sherman Fairchild Building, which is LEED Platinum certified. Through the Harvard Green Labs Initiative, Harvard is committed to reducing energy and conserving resources in laboratories. Florian Block (from left, in reflection), a research associate in computer science, Chia Shen, a senior research fellow in computer science, and Xi Chen, a visiting scholar in computer science, use an interactive software called FloTree, which offers Harvard Museum of Natural History visitors the opportunity to use their hands as barriers to separate virtual populations of organisms. Graduate students Kevin Ma and Pakpong Chirarattananon perform a pre-flight lab inspection of the RoboBee (framed by an orchid) at the Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory. Slava Arabagi works on soft sensor fabrication at the Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory. Postdoctoral researcher Mike Wehner reflected in a molding of soft robot materials made in the Harvard Microrobotics Lab. Michael Tolley (right), postdoctoral fellow in materials science and mechanical engineering in the Wyss Institute, seen here with lab manager Michael Smith, holds a large-scale model of the Harvard Monolithic Bee — a robot insect that is actually the size of a quarter. Michael Tolley works with an origami-inspired gripper folded from a single plastic sheet in the Harvard Microrobotics Lab. Views of mural artwork dappled with natural light in the modern spaces of the Harvard Microrobotics Lab. Ranjana Sahai, research associate in materials science and mechanical engineering, assembles robotic insect wings inside the Harvard Microrobotics Lab. Harvard Microrobotics Lab Manager Michael Smith works on a Denton sputtering chamber for disposition of thin metal onto various surfaces and materials. Zamyla Chan ’14 (from left), postdoctoral fellow in chemistry and chemical biology Christopher Gagliardi, and chemistry and chemical biology research assistant Robert Halbach work in Harvard’s Nocera Lab. Many experiments run in this lab require the rigors of oxygen and water at the level of “parts per billion,” or at even lower ratios. To perform them, students must have expertise in manipulating compounds and solutions under high-vacuum manifolds. Graduate student Andrew Ullman performs research in the Nocera Lab. Graduate student Daniel Bediako (left) and Zamyla Chan ’14 cut a silicone sample in the Nocera Lab. Visiting graduate student Anne Louise Kodal works in the laboratory of Will Shih, associate professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at the Wyss Institute. The Shih Lab explores design principles for self-assembling molecular machines. Staff engineer-mechanical Stacey Fitzgibbons (from left), and electrical staff engineers Amanda Wozniak and Crystal Knodel test a medical device developed at the Wyss Institute for treating infant apnea. On the table is a plastic infant used for calibrating the equipment. Senior staff scientist Daniel Levner displays research materials and illustrations for the organs-on-chips project at the Wyss Institute. Senior staff scientist Daniel Levner manipulates a robot used for research while working on the organs-on-chips project at the Wyss Institute. Broad Institute automation engineer Christian Soule (left) and research associate Hoang Danh perform high-throughput screening and compound management investigating cancer, infectious diseases, pesticide, and bacteria. Cassandra Elie and Kevin Joseph, both process development associates, perform whole genome sample sequencing inside the Broad Institute.
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