Quartzy
Encyclopedia
Quartzy is a free online laboratory management system created by life scientists and designed to meet the daily needs of academic scientists conducting research. The chief goal of the website is to increase scientific productivity by improving laboratory organization and communication within and between laboratories. Quartzy has offices in Saint Louis, Missouri and in Mountain View
, USA.
Its principal focus at this time is the organization of academic lab inventories, primarily research lab supplies, including lab durables, consumables, and fine chemicals and biologics. Users can upload their pre-existing Excel inventories and link up with their co-workers in the lab (called LabMates by Quartzy), which causes their inventories to merge into a single Lab Inventory. Users can also send order requests to lab managers and see if somebody nearby has a reagent they're looking for.
Quartzy was founded in 2008 by scientists who had become frustrated by the disorganization in academic research labs. The team is lead by life scientists and computer engineers who have witnessed these problems first hand.
In January 2009, Quartzy launched an alpha version which was followed by a beta version 6 months later.
In 2010, Quartzy won the Olin
Cup, and was featured in the New York Times. The Quartzy team also won the Startup 2011 competition, and was named one of New York City's top 25 startups to watch. Quartzy has been featured in other media, and in June of 2011 was dubbed a "Tool Every Lab Should Have".
Members of Quartzy can also use the site to keep track of and share their protocols
, and to administer shared facilities such as confocal microscopes
or FACS machines
.
1. Inventory Module - This feature allows scientists to create a shared inventory simply by connecting to other scientists. Pre-existing excel-based inventories. Or scientists can simply email their inventories to Quartzy and the team will upload them free of charge. Once setup on Quartzy the inventory can be easily searched or filtered. Scientists can also schedule regular inventory backups to be sent to them in Excel format on a weekly or monthly basis.
2. Orders Module - Scientists can efficiently send orders to their lab managers (or whoever in lab is responsible for ordering items). The recipient of the orders can quickly "accept", "deny," and mark an item "delivered", all through a single streamlined interface, so everybody in the lab knows who is ordering what.
3. Facilities Module - Using this module, scientists can set up shared lab equipment like PCR machines, Microscopes, or Flow Cytometry machines. Once added, they can then invite other scientists to join and reserve time on this equipment. This makes it easy for scientists to find otherwise unknown equipment at their institution, and know exactly who is using what.
4. Protocols Module - Lab protocols are commonly kept in difficult to find binders or in microsoft word documents. Quartzy's Protocols module provides a more standard approach to keeping track of scientific protocols and sharing them with lab personnel. In addition this module is integrated with the lab inventory so items can be pulled-in directly, and easily ordered when a scientist wants to conduct the protocol.
Mountain View
-Canada:*Mountain View County, Alberta, a municipal district*Mountain View, Alberta, a hamlet in Cardston County*Mountain View, Ontario, a community in Prince Edward County*Mountain View No...
, USA.
Its principal focus at this time is the organization of academic lab inventories, primarily research lab supplies, including lab durables, consumables, and fine chemicals and biologics. Users can upload their pre-existing Excel inventories and link up with their co-workers in the lab (called LabMates by Quartzy), which causes their inventories to merge into a single Lab Inventory. Users can also send order requests to lab managers and see if somebody nearby has a reagent they're looking for.
History
Running an academic lab is like running a small business, but academic scientists frequently lack the budget to pay for expensive inventory management solutions. Quartzy offers free laboratory inventory management solutions to academic scientists.Quartzy was founded in 2008 by scientists who had become frustrated by the disorganization in academic research labs. The team is lead by life scientists and computer engineers who have witnessed these problems first hand.
In January 2009, Quartzy launched an alpha version which was followed by a beta version 6 months later.
In 2010, Quartzy won the Olin
Olin
-Organizations:* OLIN, a landscape architecture and urban design firm in Philadelphia and Los Angeles* Olin Corporation, a chemical corporation with a history of producing chemicals and ammunition* F. W. Olin Foundation, a foundation endowed by Franklin W. Olin...
Cup, and was featured in the New York Times. The Quartzy team also won the Startup 2011 competition, and was named one of New York City's top 25 startups to watch. Quartzy has been featured in other media, and in June of 2011 was dubbed a "Tool Every Lab Should Have".
Members of Quartzy can also use the site to keep track of and share their protocols
Protocol (natural sciences)
In the natural sciences a protocol is a predefined written procedural method in the design and implementation of experiments. Protocols are written whenever it is desirable to standardize a laboratory method to ensure successful replication of results by others in the same laboratory or by other...
, and to administer shared facilities such as confocal microscopes
Confocal microscopy
Confocal microscopy is an optical imaging technique used to increase optical resolution and contrast of a micrograph by using point illumination and a spatial pinhole to eliminate out-of-focus light in specimens that are thicker than the focal plane. It enables the reconstruction of...
or FACS machines
Flow cytometry
Flow cytometry is a technique for counting and examining microscopic particles, such as cells and chromosomes, by suspending them in a stream of fluid and passing them by an electronic detection apparatus. It allows simultaneous multiparametric analysis of the physical and/or chemical...
.
Features, and how the site works
Each scientist on Quartzy can become "LabMates" with people in the same lab. Once they have connected as LabMates, their resources, such as inventories, are shared. If they prefer, individual scientists can also use Quartzy without connecting to others. The Quartzy product has four distinct modules:1. Inventory Module - This feature allows scientists to create a shared inventory simply by connecting to other scientists. Pre-existing excel-based inventories. Or scientists can simply email their inventories to Quartzy and the team will upload them free of charge. Once setup on Quartzy the inventory can be easily searched or filtered. Scientists can also schedule regular inventory backups to be sent to them in Excel format on a weekly or monthly basis.
2. Orders Module - Scientists can efficiently send orders to their lab managers (or whoever in lab is responsible for ordering items). The recipient of the orders can quickly "accept", "deny," and mark an item "delivered", all through a single streamlined interface, so everybody in the lab knows who is ordering what.
3. Facilities Module - Using this module, scientists can set up shared lab equipment like PCR machines, Microscopes, or Flow Cytometry machines. Once added, they can then invite other scientists to join and reserve time on this equipment. This makes it easy for scientists to find otherwise unknown equipment at their institution, and know exactly who is using what.
4. Protocols Module - Lab protocols are commonly kept in difficult to find binders or in microsoft word documents. Quartzy's Protocols module provides a more standard approach to keeping track of scientific protocols and sharing them with lab personnel. In addition this module is integrated with the lab inventory so items can be pulled-in directly, and easily ordered when a scientist wants to conduct the protocol.