Case Study: University of California, San Francisco achieves faster, cheaper custom lab tools with Stratasys 3D printing

3D-printed Tools Help Derisi Lab Study Diseases

The University of California, San Francisco’s DeRisi Lab needed fast, inexpensive, and highly customizable lab apparatus to support virus and parasite research, but catalog equipment was often costly and slow to obtain and traditional machine-shop skills were waning. To meet that need the lab adopted Stratasys’ uPrint 3D Printer to fabricate small, specialized parts in-house.

Using the Stratasys uPrint, DeRisi Lab prints pipet racks, objective cases, gel combs, detailed virus models and even a mini centrifuge, running the printer around the clock and making it available to hundreds of students. The result: faster, cheaper, and more flexible tooling and training—most strikingly a 3D-printed centrifuge that cost $25 versus $350 from a supplier (a $325 savings, or 93%)—demonstrating clear time and cost impact.

University of California, San Francisco

Joseph DeRisi

Lab’s Head