▶️ Guest: Andrew Hurder, Field Application Scientist at Artel (Advanced Instruments)
🎙 Hosts: Sura Hadi, Mike Ouren & Elizabeth Rodziewicz
📻 In this episode of Automation in the Wild - titled “Hands-On with Lab Automation: Experiences from the Field with Andrew Hurder” - we drop straight into the chaos, comedy, and challenges of real-world lab automation.
Andrew Hurder joins the crew to share stories from the trenches - where cleaning staff punch robots, DNA from celebrities gets sequenced, and canine blood breaks everything. From field deployment to startup growing pains, this one’s for anyone who’s ever had a robot do exactly what you told it to - just not what you meant.
🔹 Shadowboxing the ORCA arm (no, really)
🔹 Automating DNA from the Kardashian family
🔹 Why canine genomics is harder than human
🔹 The $100,000 mistake you can code around
🔹 What makes liquid classes so tricky
🔹 Building robust automation in a startup vs big pharma
🔹 How data layers and version control save entire labs
🔹 And yes… someone’s automation system lives in their backyard now
🍻 Whether you’re deep in biotech ops, just setting up your first STAR, or wondering why your robot hates you - this episode is everything Automation in the Wild was meant to be.
🎧 Subscribe for more episodes, automation fails, and behind-the-scenes stories from the frontlines of science & tech:
https://linktr.ee/helicalbrew
🔔 Subscribe & Like if your robot has ever silently judged your liquid class.
🎁 PICKS OF THE WEEK
📚 The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells - a series about a rogue security droid with anxiety https://amzn.to/3KqC1Fv
📺 Murderbot on Apple TV+ –-adaptation of the series, streaming now https://tv.apple.com/us/show/the-murderbot-diaries
🎮 [Redacted] Alpha-Test Game - under NDA, but dropping Summer 2025
🚫 (we can’t say more… yet)
🧢 Muscle Pump “Hans & Franz” Dumbbell Prop - the bit that pumps you up(Visual gag; no link available)
🚗 BMW Z3 Coupe (M Model) -The ultimate track-ready nerd carhttps://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/m-models/z3-m.html
👕 Benchling Octopus Swag - Still the comfiest shirts in biotech https://www.benchling.com
🧦 DNA Socks - Classic science lab driphttps://www.biotechswag.com/products/dna-socks
⏱️ EPISODE CHAPTERS - NAVIGATE THE EPISODE
00:00 - The Magic Word That Broke the Episode
00:25 - Robots, Blood & Shadowboxing: Meet Andrew Hurder
03:19 - This Janitor and The Robot Arm
06:32 - Kardashian Blood vs K9 Blood: Automation Gets Into Reality TV
10:43 - Labs Keep Screwing This Up (And It's Expensive)
11:52 - Can You Automate a Single Cell? Yes… Barely.
14:32 - GitHub for Robots: Why Your Automation Needs Version Control
18:57 - Startups Move Fast (and Break Fewer Things)
23:00 - Modular Labs: Like LEGOs, but for Grownups
28:52 - Tesla with a Toyota Badge?! Plus Open-Source Lab Tools
32:02 - Pot, Protocols & Python: Where Automation’s Going
34:57 - AI is a Data Thief - and You’re Feeding It
36:19 - Potato.ai and the Future of Self-Driving Labs
40:22 - From Liberal Arts to Liquid Handling Whisperer
49:25 - That Time Arnold Schwarzenegger Showed Up at Work
🌐 Artel: https://www.artel.com
📍 Learn more about Andrew Hurder on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewhurder/
🤖 Helical Brew is where lab automation meets the wild frontier of innovation. Subscribe for stories from the builders, breakers, and believers in the next wave of biotech, automation, and scientific discovery.
📌 SHORTS (Grab Quick Highlights)
▶️ https://youtube.com/shorts/4W4uuAuhqe0?feature=share
▶️ https://youtube.com/shorts/mXr3C7ygocE?feature=share
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