IDEA

The Innovate, Design, Engineer, Accelerate (IDEA) Labs multidisciplinary service center is equipped with advanced prototyping capabilities, including 3D printing, electronics fabrication, computational design, and biofabrications, allowing rapid turnaround and high adaptability to the unique needs of breakthrough research and entrepreneurial work. The lab functions as a service and resource-sharing center, allowing users to adapt the lab to their needs.

IDEA Labs is a Hub that brings together engineers, designers, innovators, and researchers to cultivate these talents and become a center of excellence in the growing fields of healthcare engineering, design, and innovation. The IDEA Lab is located on the first floor of the Morgan Center for Research and Innovations.

The IDEA Lab offers two different ways to engage and further your research.

First, if you prefer to request work to be completed, the IDEA Team can work with you to understand your idea, design, review, and fabricate your requests. Please find the information in the Service Request Section.

Second, for those interested in directly utilizing the equipment in the lab, you can get trained, book time on machines, and create your ideas! Please find the information in the Direct Users Section. 

For users interested in a service-style approach, please find the information to get started below or contact IDEA@chop.edu with any questions. 

Service request covers any support you may need from the IDEA team for work to be completed. This includes access and training for direct users. As well as consultations and requests for those looking to have work completed by the IDEA team. The IDEA Team can work with you to understand your idea, design, review, and fabricate your requests. The following services are available in the IDEA Labs to support projects.

All requests can be submitted on the Request Service tab 

• Consultation and Design Review
• Engineering and Fabrication Services
• Equipment and Safety Training
• Demonstrations and Room Reservations
• Access Request

Direct users interested in directly utilizing the equipment in the lab, you can get trained, book time on machines, and create their idea. Please find the information to get started below or contact IDEA@chop.edu with any questions. 

GETTING ACCESS TO OUR FACILITY

Weekly safety training sessions are held on Thursdays at 11 am in the IDEA Labs, first floor of the Morgan Center. All who are interested in starting to use the lab are welcome.

Please let us know ahead of time that you will be attending by sending an email to IDEA@chop.edu.

  - Sign-up for an iLab account at https://chop.ilab.agilent.com/landing/101

  - The steps for setting up a form of payment in iLab depend on your affiliation: CHOP, UPenn or another institution. 

• Researchers from CHOP who would like to start using our facility should take the following steps:
• Ask your PI or business manager to give you access in iLab to an active account.
• Proceed to set up training and equipment-specific training as needed. 
• Reserve trained equipment on the Schedule Equipment page.
• Our lab is open 24/7 to trained researchers who carry a CHOP badge for trained, approved use with a safety buddy as needed. 
  
  
• Researchers from Penn who would like to use our facility should take the following steps:
  • In order to generate the PO, your business manager may ask for our BenBuys information, which is Phila 200, Site 49513, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
  • The PO does not trigger any payment, it only sets the upper limit for the dollar amount that we are allowed to invoice. You may use one PO for multiple services, but it is not possible to add funds to an existing PO.
  • At the beginning of each month, our administrative team will send invoices for the services to Penn’s central Accounts Payable.
  • The end-user is responsible for making sure that the correct PO is being used for each reservation on our calendars. Consult with your business manager if you have any doubts.
  • Since iLab does not allow end-users to edit past reservations, you must inform us immediately by emailing to IDEA@chop.edu if you notice that a charge for a reservation should have been set on a different PO.
    The IDEA staff will make the necessary change on your behalf.
  • You may proceed with scheduling training as soon as the PO is available.   
  • Request a new PO and enter it in iLab when the initial funds are running low. You will not be able to set up reservations in iLab if your funding is insufficient.
• Make sure you have an active iLab account. If necessary, sign up for an iLab account.
  Penn researchers may use this link to find us in iLab: link
• Request a purchase order (PO) from your business manager for covering the in our lab. 
• Enter the PO number in iLab. All end users and lab managers should be able to enter a PO in iLab. The PO will be reviewed by our administrative team. 
• For adding new lab members to an existing PO  please send an email message to CHOP Core Facilities Administration at CoresAdmin@chop.edu. Please note that the IDEA staff members cannot make any changes to existing POs.
• For general questions about iLab or about setting up a new PO, Penn researchers should contact April Weakley at aweakley@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
  
  
  
• IMPORTANT: We request all Penn users apply for a CHOP token as soon as possible.  The token is a small device affixed  to the Penn ID, which allows for easy access into our building between 8AM and 6PM, without checking in with the security officer in the lobby. 
  Without a CHOP token, access to our lab is possible only when the staff is present and a photo ID is required.
  
  

• Researchers from other institutions who would like to use our facility should take the following steps:
• Sign up for an iLab account.
• Provide a form of payment (Purchase Order or credit card) that will be used to cover the service fees. Please contact our administrative team at CoresAdmin@chop.edu for additional information on setting up your payment info in iLab.
• Sign a formal "Research Core Services Agreement" with our facility. Contact the IDEA Core director, Dr. Elizabeth Silvestro at Silvestro@chop.edu for further details and clarifications.
• After the agreement is fully signed and your form of payment is active for your iLab account you may proceed with scheduling reservations in iLab.
  Equipment is offered in a Full-service mode and/ or assisted mode, depending on training and safety.

Regardless of your affiliation, please send any specific questions about getting access to our lab to IDEA@chop.edu. 

Inquiries about setting up a form of payment or about your iLab account should be addressed to the CHOP Core Facilities Administration at CoresAdmin@chop.edu.

• For special projects that require access to CHOP core facilities when the staff is not present (evenings, weekends, holidays), non-CHOP researchers may apply for Non-Traditional Personnel (NTP) status. Researchers with NTP status are in fact CHOP employees and they receive a CHOP ID that allows them access into CHOP buildings at any time. 
  To get more details or to apply for NTP status, log in iLab, navigate to our iLab site, click the "Request Services" tab and submit the form "Request Non-Tradional Personnel (NTP) status at CHOP". The form contains all the information needed in order to apply.
  
  

TRAINING

To utilize/reserve IDEA lab Equipment, additional training may be necessary. The following training is available to support assisted and unassisted users in their projects, ensuring safety and effectiveness. Access to certain equipment and rooms is contingent on completing appropriate training.

• Room Safety Training
• Equipment-Specific Training
• Skill-Based Training

To schedule a training session, please log in to iLab, click the Request Services tab, and submit a Training request. 

SCHEDULE RESOURCES

Equipment reservations can be requested on the Schedule Equipment tab above to schedule any of the following needed to get started. The following services are available in the IDEA Labs to support assisted and unassisted projects. All reservations are contingent on appropriate training, project/application review, and safety considerations.

SERVICES

Services can be requested on the Request Services tab above to schedule any of the following needed to get started. The following services are available in the IDEA Labs to support assisted and unassisted projects.

• Consultation and Design Review
• Engineering and Fabrication Services
• Equipment and Safety Training
• Demonstrations and Room Reservations
• Access Request

Our lab is staffed only during business hours (8 AM to 3 PM). Unassisted access to instruments is available to trained CHOP employees for expanded timeframes (with a safety buddy as necessary).

 Safety

The IDEA lab aims to support research and innovation at CHOP and the community. To do this, we must maintain safe practices for all users and equipment. Users are asked to ensure the following in all work and operations

1. Trained – All users and visitors are expected to be trained and only use the equipment they are trained on and for the purposes defined.
2. Safe – All users and visitors follow all posted and suggested safety guidelines for the areas and equipment. This includes and is not limited to safety gear (gloves, eyewear, ear wear, etc), materials approvals, and buddy system for equipment
3. Reviewed – all work has been reviewed and approved by the IDEA labs staff to ensure safety, feasibility, and effectiveness of the work proposed. All work and users are expected to uphold CHOP standards.
4. Questioning Attitude – the community nature of the space, we ask all users and visitors to practice a questioning attitude and be open to support and suggestions from others to ensure safe and effective use of the area.
5. Community Member – All users are expected to be active members of the space, including maintaining the space cleanliness, supporting others when possible, and contributing support safe lab.

We welcome your suggestions for maintaining the highest level of safety in the IDEA lab.

We ask all user to please acknowledge the IDEA Lab in your work: 

The authors acknowledge the Innovate, Design, Engineer, and Accelerate IDEA Lab Core Facility at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (RRID:SCR_029073) for providing [service, technology, instrumentation, or expertise] used in this research.