The Cove Prototyping Lab inside UCI Beall Applied Innovation offers high-tech equipment dedicated to facilitating prototyping for startups and the community.
Entrepreneurs and startups can stop simply imagining their inventions and start bringing them to life. UCI Beall Applied Innovation has a dedicated space for innovators to explore and develop their ideas.
The Cove Prototyping Lab, residing on the first floor at the Cove @ UCI, offers advanced equipment customized for prototyping. Sara Willman, lab manager at Applied Innovation, is proud of the lab’s unique offerings and ability to foster creativity.
“We are a one-stop-shop to get projects done,” said Willman. “Having all the equipment [here] is something that’s hard to come by all in one space.”
The lab includes 3D printers, laser-cutting machines, manual and automatic machining equipment and an extensive electronics station for building circuit boards. Lab users can also perform chemical post-processing, low-hazard prototyping, as well as adhesive and molding tasks in a small chemical area.
Most lab residents construct prototypes for medical device and biotechnology companies. However, UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of Arts (CTSA) also utilized the Cove Prototyping Lab, along with partners from the medical center, the business community, Applied Innovation, UCI School of Medicine, the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering, to help construct thousands of face shields for UCI healthcare workers for the COVID-19 crisis.
“The Cove Prototyping Lab was essential for the face shield project, both for the machines it provided and for the technical expertise of lab manager Sara Willman,” said Jesse Jackson, associate professor at CTSA. “Sara was able to immediately implement the required fabrication at scale without delay.”
Those affiliated with UCI receive first priority to utilize long-term bench rentals or access equipment for short-term prototyping projects. However, Cove partners, Wayfinder startups and the general public can also utilize the lab’s resources.
CenSyn, a Wayfinder startup that uses a quick and efficient medical device to monitor the brain during healthcare emergencies, takes advantage of the lab’s 3D printers and laser cutters for building precise prototypes.
“The Cove Prototyping Lab has a selection of components that we can choose from to test different designs,” said, Ayushi Patel, co-founder and CEO of CenSyn. “It is perfect for a small startup like ours as most of our prototyping is done in-house at the Cove Prototyping Lab and with minimum expense.”
For Cove Prototyping Lab inquiries and questions, contact Sara Willman: swillman@uci.edu.
Produced by UCI Beall Applied Innovation
Directed by Julie Kennedy
Edited by Daniel Xu
Filmed by Rthura Cevallos
Animations by Celina Bhandari
*Main photo: Rthura Cevallos, UCI Beall Applied Innovation