…to encourage the development of Laboratory Systems Engineering (LSE) as a discipline, and provide some background/educational material about the field.
Since the early 1960’s, laboratories have adopted information technologies to improve their ability to work and increase productivity. It began with the use of computers for data acquisition and processing. Then it moved on to using database systems to manage lab data/information and workflows. Each step in applying information technologies to lab work required a deeper dive into laboratory informatics. People also needed to acquire the skills to work with those systems.
Today, it is difficult to run an efficient laboratory without information technology resources. Along the way, we’ve gone from just acquiring data to issues that include:
- regulatory oversight,
- systems integration,
- robotics,
- the automation of sample processing, and
- data governance.
We’re now moving into organizational memory and exploring the use of artificial intelligence as that field develops.
Despite the increasing importance of technology planning and management in laboratory operations, there is a glaring gap in education for this work. The necessary skills and knowledge are acquired through trial and error, a method that is inefficient and often ineffective. This underscores the urgent need for the development of Laboratory Systems Engineering.
The implementation of LSE will change the process of choosing products, avoiding product selection on an as-needed basis without planning. It will also alter how we figure out making them work together. LSE will take a proactive role in planning for systems use. This will occur before the tools are acquired. This approach leads to more efficient and effective operations.
For more information on LSE, see “What is Laboratory Systems Engineering?”
Editor’s note: The material on this site goes back decades, with some written recently. You may notice that material in later pieces shows a different perspective than earlier work, things change over time as new technologies and products are developed. It may also show changes in how I think about things. For example, I once considered LIMS and ELNs as separate tools, now there is a good case for them to be viewed as different aspects of one tool or as an integrated system.
This site is managed by Joe Liscouski, email: Joe.Liscouski@gmail.com
Laboratory Systems Engineering 