OASIS is home to a shared research infrastructure, featuring advanced instrumentation for materials synthesis and characterization, device prototyping and testing, and system fabrication and integration – all within one integrated environment. Supported by expert technical staff, these resources enable users to rapidly move from concept to proof of performance to early-stage scale-up.

Image
mage of two UCSB researchers working inside a laboratory at the OASIS facility.

BioPACIFIC MIP

The National Science Foundation (NSF) BioPACIFIC Materials Innovation Platform (MIP) operates a one of a kind user facility dedicated to creating a nexus for synthetic biology and materials to revolutionize high-performance polymers. Users are uniquely able to elucidate biomaterial structure and function to achieve materials-by-design, construct new bio-derived functional monomers from living organisms, access novel sequence-specific materials (e.g. peptoids), synthesize stimuli-responsive “smart” biomaterials, scale-up biomaterial production, and incorporate state-of-the-art theoretic simulation and machine learning algorithms.

  • Access to the BioPACIFIC MIP is open to academic and government researchers through a competitive, peer-reviewed proposal process. 
  • Companies can access BioPACIFIC MIP resources through either a user proposal – for non-proprietary work that will be shared with the user community – or through a flexible fee-for-use model that enables a la carte access to any instrument at BioPACIFIC MIP and adjacent core facilities at UCSB and UCLA. Fee-for-use work does not need to be strictly aligned with BioPACIFIC MIP's in-house research mission.
  • The BioPACIFIC MIP enables access to state-of-the-art instrumentation and expert staff devoted to high-throughput and automated synthetic biology, materials synthesis, characterization, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven workflows at no-cost, alongside engagement and networking with a national community of biomaterials researchers.
  • Key Links:
Image
Magnified image of a microchip produced at the UCSB Nanofabrication facility before it has been packaged

Packaging & Prototyping (Protofab) Facility

The UCSB Packaging & Prototyping Facility, or Protofab, is an open-access microelectronics and semiconductor packaging lab that helps users move from fabricated devices to functional prototypes ready for system-level testing. Managed as part of the UCSB Nanofab, Protofab extends the Nanofab’s rapid-cycle R&D model beyond wafer fabrication, providing access to packaging equipment and staff-supported services for semiconductor, microelectronic, RF, and photonic devices and circuits. At Protofab, users can take diced chips from the UCSB Nanofab and prepare them for testing through capabilities such as wirebonding, attachment to custom-fabricated PCBs and carriers, and optical-fiber alignment and attachment.