Core Technology Platforms

ANALYTICAL AND MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION

The Analytical and Materials Characterization Core Technology Platform supports scientific advancements and development of new technologies. This facility provides state-of-the-art instrumentation with major capabilities for fundamental studies of the surface, ultrastructure and interfacial properties of materials in the following major areas:

Characterization is used by researchers in the fields of chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, and archeology to study the properties of samples by morphology, mechanical, chemical and crystalline properties from macro to nanometer scale. The main techniques used in this area are optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, x-ray fluorescence, focused ion beam, atomic force microscopy, and mechanical testing.
Powder and single crystal x-ray diffractometers are available for a wide range of structural characterization. Recent research activities have included work on the structure of insect eyes, identification of diatoms on coral substrates, characterization of archeological debris, cross-sectional imaging of integrated circuits, mechanical properties of organic crystals, x-ray tomography of organic crystals, analysis of lithographically defined materials, structure of nanoscale scaffolds and Raman identification of several materials.

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SPECTROMETRY & SPECTROSCOPY

The Spectrometry and Spectroscopy Core Technology Platform assists researchers in the following applications:

This facility maintains and operates a wide range of tools for separation and characterization of compounds which aids in the synthesis and discovery of chemical compounds.
Metabolomics is a term used for the characterizing and understanding of all metabolites present in living organisms. The metabolome can help us understand biochemical processes, diseases, and biodiversity by using spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques to characterize and quantify complex biological mixtures.
As proteins are large molecules, the same spectroscopic techniques can be used to characterize and validate these compounds as smaller ones, only with additional time, care, and data handling.

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MICROFABRICATION

The Microfabrication Core Technology Platform is equipped with the equipment necessary to perform material deposition, lithography and etching for microfabrication process. Researchers are utilizing this CTP, a class 1000 cleanroom, to build microfluidic platforms for highthroughput drug screening, develop ultrasensitive point-of-care diagnostic chips for early detection of cancer and other diseases, design chips to isolate fetal cells from maternal blood, and create portable platforms for monitoring the quality of water in the world.

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MOLECULAR & CELL BIOLOGY

The Molecular and Cell Biology Core Technology Platform provides a broad range of instruments that aid scientists in performing research at the molecular, single cell, and tissue culture level. Research activities carried out at NYUAD in this core include:

Research in this field includes the cloning and subcloning of genes into a variety of different vectors; gene manipulation that alters specific domains, or simply changes fusion tags on proteins and mutagenesis which alters single amino acids.
This includes an efficient E. coli expression system to express a variety of protein samples (including human proteins) with purity higher than 95%.
The research applications in this area include the characterization of the structure of Molecular Cell Biology different macromolecules and the determination of the thermal and chemical stability of biological macromolecules; the analysis of the energetics of binding different molecules to a biological sample; and screening for binding partners to the macromolecule using small molecule libraries as the first method in drug discovery and design.
Single-cell genomics is a method used to analyze individual cells from a tissue sample. Classifying cell types is an important step in understanding functional states and cellular processes. Our integrative microfluidic based system enables several complementary genomic application including high throughput gene expression, genotyping, digital PCR, single cell expression profiling and sample preparation of single cell whole genome or targeted sequencing.

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NYUAD's Core Technology Platforms Seqencing equipment

SEQUENCING

The Sequencing facility enables researchers to rapidly collect large amounts of data on DNA and RNA sequences. Researchers are using this technology to sequence samples from humans, model organisms and nonmodel organisms in order to characterize their genomes (DNA), transcriptomes (RNA), and genetic diversity in populations (sequence variants). Other applications include investigating interactions between proteins and nucleic acids and analyzing samples collected from the environment.

This core is used by researchers to investigate how marine microbes interact with each other and how these interactions influence both our oceans and other important ecosystems in the oceans, such as coral reefs. Another research group seeks to reveal how neuronal cells from multiple anatomically distinct nuclei networked together in the basal brain in a mouse paradigm that manifests in sleep and circadian disturbance under social defeat depression.

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HIGH-THROUGHPUT SCREENING

The High-Throughput Screening (HTS) Core Technology Platform is a laboratory automation system which allows researchers to rapidly automate chemical and biological processes. This platform is optimized to carry out most of the steps involved in high throughput screening of small molecule or genomic (e.g., RNAi, CRISPR) libraries. These steps include mixing reagents with cells or whole organisms, sample incubation in controlled environments, and highcontent imaging at multiple levels of magnification in both brightfield and multichannel fluorescence modes.

The HTS system is capable of performing a variety of processes such as liquid handling, imaging, incubation, labeling, shaking, sealing and can be adaptable to any new process required by adding a new equipment and integrating it with the rest of the automated system. The users of this platform are currently focusing on screening large libraries of chemical and biological reagents for bioactive compound discovery, toxicity studies, and cell biology research.

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NYUAD's Core Technology Platforms Microscopy equipment.

LIGHT MICROSCOPY

The Light Microscopy Core Technology Platform provides access to several state-ofthe-art microscopes and aids in the following research activities:

The microscopy facility applications include molecular motor transport studies, 3D neuronal network imaging and nanoparticle testing and cell screening. The facility also can perform imaging of fluorescently labelled samples like drosophila brains, mouse brain sections and cultured cells.
Various imaging techniques are used in widefield microscopy which include epifluorescence, phase contract, and differential contrast microscopy. These are used in the core facility in various projects such as cell growth and proliferation regulation studies, actin reprogramming and C. elegans embryogenesis.
The facility supports researchers in experimental design and suggests different labelling techniques and microscopes setups for the various applications.
Various software programs are available for the post processing of the images on a processing workstation.

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BRAIN IMAGING

The Brain Imaging Core Technology Platform performs cutting edge, noninvasive examination of the brain’s structural features and functional activation, and its relation to human behavior, language, and working memory, which is observed via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology.

This CTP is staffed with an imaging physicist and a certified MRI technologist, and is equipped with a state-of-the-art 3T Siemens MAGNETOM Prisma MRI scanner. The latest pulse sequences such as simultaneous multislice (SMS) for BOLD and diffusion sequences provide unparalleled capability of acquiring high spatial and temporal resolution images with adequate signal-to- noise ratio in shorter scan times. Several RF coils are available with the Prisma such as 20, 32 and 64 Channels head “TIM” RF receiver in addition to the RF body coils.

In addition, this CTP is equipped with a magnetoencephalography (MEG) system managed by Neuroscience of Language Lab (Nellab) which houses a noninvasive imaging technology that allows researchers to investigate how the brain gives rise to various aspects of cognition.

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NYUAD's Core Technology Platforms Marine Sciences equipment.

MARINE BIOLOGY

The Marine Biology Core Technology Platform provides the necessary tools to allow researchers to use the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman as natural laboratories. Among the many research activities, scientists at NYUAD are seeking to examine how coral communities in these extreme environments respond to and recover from mass bleaching events and how variation in environmental conditions affect biogeographic patterns of community structure of corals, fish, and other reef biota in the region.

Another group of scientists are monitoring and collecting samples from coral colonies around the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to understand coral disease. They are also collecting net plankton samples for isolation of marine phytoplankton from the Arabian Gulf exploring mangrove sediments in order to isolate novel marine bacteria with potential for biomedical drugs. The Marine Biology facility is equipped with the latest technology and tools to conduct research in this field.

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ADVANCED MANUFACTURING & ELECTRONICS

The Advanced Manufacturing and Electronics Core Technology Platform supports research in the following areas:

Mechanical design
Manufacturing custom made parts
Design and manufacturing printed circuit boards (PCB)
Reverse Engineering
Design and manufacture custom made equipment or modify existing equipment

All activities are performed using stateof-the-art software and manufacturing equipment operated by specialized trained personnel using cutting edge techniques. Depending on the nature of the project, a single machine or combination of these machines are used. The facility can produce parts accurate to the micro scale.

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PHOTONICS

The Photonics Core Technology Platform is an advanced facility that has been exclusively established to address the current and future research activities in the field of telecommunications.

The instruments in this core work in synergy to perform advanced characterizations necessary to test research theories, and for the evaluation and certification (IEEE Standards) of optical and electronic telecommunication devices that operate at very high bit rates. The latest research on data telecommunication channels use a combination of optical and electrical components to offer data rates of 400 Gigabits/sec. The combination of instruments is essential in the field of telecommunication. Individually, the same instruments can be utilized for research in physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science and much more.

- Bit error rate testing
- Coherent detection
- Vector signal analysis
- S-Parameters evaluation
- Insertion loss (IL) / Polarization dependent loss (PDL)
- Spectral measurements
- Polarization analysis
- Swept-wavelength measurement
- Frequency domain / Time domain response
- Various modulation formats analysis
- Fast spectral measurements
- Signal integrity
- Small signal and large signal analysis

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KINESIS

The Kinesis Core Technology Platform is a space for exploration and experimentation related to motion. The laboratory is divided into two main zones: The Arena and the Workspace.

The Arena is the dedicated area for motion experimentation. The Arena is a 17m x 6.4m x 8m space constructed from adaptable truss structures with surrounding nets for safety and can be reconfigured accordingly.

The lighting system is controllable for colors and intensity, and removable protective mattresses cover the ground area. The Arena is equipped with a local position tracking system, 2 kW sound system, a projection system and a highspeed ethernet and wireless network.
The Workspace houses workstations for eight scientists with a high-speed local network and controllable lighting system. The Workspace is also a home to a high-performance GPU unit and a safe charging station for LiPo batteries.

The Kinesis Core Technology Platform supports research in the following areas:

Gait Analysis & Rehabilitation Posture, Balance and Motor Control Athletics (Sports Performance, Movement Evaluation,) Animal Biomechanics and Science Psychology and Neurology Research
Robotics (UAV, Industrial Robots, Robots’ Localization, Movement Analysis, Trajectory Generation) Product Design and Evaluation (Car Production Industry, Aerospace, etc.) Virtual Reality, Immersive Reality, and Augmented Reality (Subject Localization, Gesture Recognition) Aerodynamics Research Control Systems, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (Artificial Neural Networks, Deep Learning, Deep Reinforcement Learning, etc.)
Video Games Development (Character Animation, Object Animation, Effects Generation) Film production (Character Animation, Object Movement and Animation), Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) Sound and Motion Application and Research (Music Performance and Pedagogy, Neuroscience, Music Psychology Research)