Solutions > Case Studies

Additional Photos	Project: Nozzle for Cell Sorting Application Company Background: iCyt, a Champaign, IL bioscience technology company specializing in novel cell measurement and handling technologies. Problem: One of the major manufacturing challenges was the creation of a new nozzle with a 0.070mm (.003") orifice in the tip that is accurately aligned with the internal geometry of the nozzle. Why were we selected? iCyt was not able to find an effective way of manufacturing the orifice at the tip of the nozzle. Microlution proposed a low cost solution of using proprietary mMT technology to machine the orifice in question. How we solved the problem: Microlution was able to accurately machine the orifice using its innovative Microlution 310-S micro-milling machine. The results were prototype nozzles with an orifice diameter of 0.070mm +/- 0.001mm. Quotes & Testimonials: Gary Durack, iCyt founder and CTO, sees the value that Microlution's products can provide for companies doing prototyping and low-volume production of small parts, and says, "We have been very impressed by the precision machining capability that Microlution has provided to us through their prototyping and application development services. In the near future, I am considering the purchase of one or several Microlution 310-S machines to bring that capability in-house for our product development and custom application needs."

Additional Photos	Project: Biomedical Device Components Company Background: Knowles is an Itasca, IL company dedicated to developing better micro electro-mechanical solutions for their customers. Their product portfolio includes volume controls, switches, telecoils, and other programming controls. Problem: The traditional method for prototyping many of Knowles' components required micro-injection molding due to the small size and precision of the parts. However, this method suffered from high up-front tooling costs (up to $30k) and long lead times (8+ weeks). Why were we selected? Knowles was looking for faster and lower cost solution to manufacturing their prototype parts. Microlution proposed using proprietary mMT technology to manufacture these prototypes, the parts would be manufactured with a shorter lead time and with a lower cost per part compared to the micro-injection molding process Knowles had been utilizing. How we solved the problem: Microlution was able to deliver the prototype parts to Knowles with a faster (3 week lead), lower cost, all the while faithfully reproducing the micro-scale features of the parts. Quotes & Testimonials: Dan Repplinger, director of engineering, says that, "Microlution has been a valuable resource in helping us to quickly prototype our design concepts in materials that allow us to achieve meaningful results and data. They have been able to faithfully reproduce details at the micro level that would be beneficial to anyone who needs small prototype parts."

	Project: Micromachining Research Company Background: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, whose college of engineering is ranked 5th in the nation according to US News and World Report, has been conducting extensive research in micro-machining technology over the past 6 years. Approximately 24 publications in leading scholarly journals and conference proceedings have resulted from the this ongoing research which ranges from the modeling of micro-machining processes and associated cutting forces, the manufacturing of microfluidic devices, applications of acoustic emission to microscale manufacturing, and the design and development of microfactories. Problem: The increasing demands of the research at the University of Illinois required a machine tool specifically designed for micromachining that would be able to support the research needs of a top tier research institution Why were we selected? The University of Illinois was looking for a high precision, high performance, flexible machine tool that was optimized for manufacturing small part which would be able to support a sensor rich environment. Microlution was the only company able to meet all of the needs of the University of Illinois and also provide a reasonable price. How we solved the problem: The Microlution 310-S, the revolutionary 3-axis mill offered from Microlution, provides ultra-high machining accuracy along with broad sensor capabilities and configuration flexibility to support all of the research needs of a leading institution and has recently been delivered to the University of Illinois. The small footprint (4 sq. ft) of the Microlution 310-S and simple utility requirements make it ideal for laboratory or office use. Quotes & Testimonials: "We have been developing mMT technologies at the University of Illinois since 2000 and have designed and built three generations of machines," said Research Professor Dick DeVor. "Designing and building these mMTs provides a great opportunity for the students to learn and the machines have served our research program in micro-scale machining very well. But today, the demands of several of our ongoing projects are such that we need higher levels of accuracy and higher overall performance and so we decided that our next machine would be the Microlution 310-S. The Microlution machine is perfect for an R&D environment - it is very flexible, easy to operate and maintain, and the Microlution team has worked closely with us to tailor certain aspects of the machine to our research needs" said DeVor.