As Rice moves into Stage 2 Research guidelines and there is no longer a square footage restriction on lab equipment, the Biomaterials Lab is adjusting our policies.
1) We will continue to use the calendar to mark equipment usage and help with contact tracing should that be necessary. If you plan to use the Biomaterials Lab during this time, please contact Uday Jammalamadaka (umj1@rice.edu) for access to the Google Calendar to document when you plan to use the BML and which instruments you plan on using.
2) There is no longer a 2 person limit for 650A, the main laboratory portion of the BML. Users must still maintain a 6' distance from others in the lab when using equipment.*
3) The Bioprinting room (where the RegenHu, Bioassembly Bot, and Bioplotter are located) will retain a 1-person limit due to its enclosed nature and the difficulty of maintaining social distance in 650 B/C.
4) Per core facilitiy guidelines at this time, we are still not able to accomodate external users.
*Currently, there are only a couple pieces of equipment where maintaining that distance would be difficult. This includes the Nikon microscope, the UPLC, and the Rheometer due to their close proximity. Only one user will be able to use equipment from that area at any given time. Users may consult the Google calendar to ensure they are not overlapping reservations on that piece of equipment. Due to the nature of the equipment, it is understood that a user may reserve the equipment for an extended period of time, but only be present for the first fifteen minutes of a reservation for example. Thus, users are encouraged to coordinate with each other as necessary to maintain social distancing with reservations that may appear to be overlapping.