Andreas Manz – Pioneer, Mentor, Friend

Microfluidics – as most of us call their research field today; micro total analysis systems as it was named at the beginning of the 1990s, was heavily influenced by contributions from Andreas Manz. The first inventions and publications in the field of analytical chemistry, such as electrophoresis-on-chip and chromatography-on-chip, showed the amazing potential of miniaturized systems. The pioneering work for separation methods was followed by further seminal studies on bioanalytical and biological applications of microfluidic chips, such as PCR-on-chip, adaptations to various analytical detection methods, chemical reactors; and numerous more fancy ideas, such as powder-on-chip, leaves as molds, or the miniaturized London city map, with shortest travel distances visualized by a gas plasma. The world of microfluidics has very creative aspects and Andreas was one of the catalysts for the next generation of researchers.

Scientific articles and inventions alone do not build communities. Conferences were established, such as the microTAS conference, a society was founded (the Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society), and this journal, Lab on a chip, was launched – Andreas Manz was always at the forefront of all these endeavors that gave researchers excellent opportunities to meet, exchange ideas and disseminate work to peers. His right instinct at the right time was certainly one of the drivers of success for building networks across groups, countries and research topics related to miniaturization and forming a microfluidics community.

In October 2022, Andreas' farewell symposium at KIST in Saarbrücken (Germany) took place with Andreas' companions, friends and alumni from all-over the world. It was a family reunion, where alumni from Andreas' main working places at the company Ciba Geigy (Basel, Switzerland), Imperial College (London, UK), the Institute for Analytical Sciences (Dortmund, Germany) and the Korean Institute for Science and Technology (Saarbrücken, Germany) came together. Wherever Andreas settled and had a research team, he fascinated his team members with ideas and also transferred the fun side of microfluidics and science in general into their minds. As a result, an amazingly large number of alumni got “infected” and remained fascinated lifelong (including the authors of this editorial) and stayed in the field. Andreas has introduced everyone to his large network so that connections between generations and working places were easily made. Many alumni have their own research groups and their own alumni in the meantime and moved on by exploring new applications of microfluidics. Being alumni of Andreas' research groups, we all value his role as a supervisor, mentor, supporter and friend, with unforgettable get-togethers at his home.

The selection of articles dedicated to Andreas' retirement written by colleagues, alumni and friends gives insight into the broadness of microfluidics as of today, from underpinning concepts of miniaturization to numerous applications across the natural and life sciences.

 

Nicole Pamme

Petra S. Dittrich

---