Microfluidic pioneers Dolomite
are celebrating both the opening of their Japanese office and sales growth of
over 200% during the past year. Dolomite are fast becoming a world leader in
the development and manufacture of the microfluidic chips and connectors that
are used in such industries as drug discovery, drug delivery, forensics and
clinical diagnostics.
Microfluidics, a technology also known as ‘lab on a chip', is an exciting
new field of science and engineering that enables very small-scale fluid control
and analysis, allowing instrument manufacturers to develop smaller, more cost-effective
and more powerful systems. With lab-on-a-chip technology, entire complex chemical
management and analysis systems are created in a microfluidic chip and interfaced
with, for example, electronic and optical detection systems.
"We are delighted with these achievements," said Mark Gilligan, Managing
Director of Dolomite. "Most of this increase is due to more sales from
commercial customers, particularly in the field of heath care. In this area,
microfluidics has the potential to enable smaller instruments and smaller fluid
samples to be used, allowing more frequent testing to be carried out and hence
potentially greater control of a patient's condition. We have also seen an increase
in sales from academic organizations who are coming to Dolomite for a professionally
engineered microfluidic solution to help them realize their novel research goals."
Over the past year Dolomite have broken new ground with the development of
quartz based microfluidic devices, a new generation of complex multi-layer microfluidic
devices, droplet generation and management technology, a range of microfluidic
connectors and advances in pumping technology for microfluidic systems. They
have been working on projects ranging from mobile environmental analysis systems
to DNA analysis.
"It's been a very busy and exciting year," said Mark Gilligan. "During
2008 we have developed better products and better production techniques. We've
taken on some new scientists and engineers over the past year and this has bolstered
our design production capabilities. On the commercial side of the business,
we now have a much stronger sales and marketing team. Our UK and US sales offices
are now very active and helping us turn our technology into long-term revenue.
The opening of the Japanese office will further strengthen our sales effort
and global presence."
Dolomite’s new Japanese sales office will be headed by Kozo Hori. Hori-san
has extensive experience of selling into the scientific instrument sector and
is a graduate of Osaka Institute of Technology, having majored in Industrial
Management. Dolomite's capabilities have received considerable interest from
the Asia region. The establishment of the Japanese office is intended to bring
the company closer to its customers within this market and to open up new opportunities
within the region.
"With the Japanese office now in place, I feel sure we can look forward
to an even more exciting year ahead," said Mark Gilligan. "We have
many good projects ongoing and in the pipeline, and as microfluidics becomes
increasingly main-stream, we very much expect demand to continue to grow. It's
exciting to be working with a technology that offers so much potential."