What we learnt at CHAATs
We headed to CHAATs (Chemistry, High-Throughput Automation and AI Technology) expecting plenty of conversation around high-throughput experimentation, automation and AI. What we came away with was a clearer picture of the practical challenges scientists are facing, and where automation could make a real difference.
One of the most interesting things about the event was how open the conversations were. It felt less like a traditional exhibition and more like a group of people genuinely interested in sharing ideas, comparing experiences and talking about the problems they haven’t quite solved yet.
CHAATs brought together people from across the chemistry and pharmaceutical industries, creating space for open discussions about experimental workflows, data handling and the practical challenges of scaling up research.
It was particularly valuable to connect with both familiar faces and new contacts. While many attendees already knew Labman, the event introduced us to people who hadn’t yet seen the breadth of our work in the US.
It was an opportunity to showcase our work in automated chemistry, share what we’ve learnt from customer projects and, just as importantly, listen to the people working at the forefront of the industry.
The Talks
We were pleased to play an active part in CHAATS, kicking off the first day by sponsoring breakfast before the conversations moved firmly into high-throughput chemistry.
Our Head of US Sales, Nikki, shared our experiences of high-throughput experimentation, using our work with Recursion to explore the realities of automating chemistry workflows.
We also heard from Todd DeCollo at Alexion, who presented their LitreLab PrepSuite. The platform was developed with Labman, but what made the session particularly interesting was seeing the automation from the customer’s perspective, with the focus firmly on the science and processes it enables rather than the system itself.
CHAATS was a valuable opportunity to strengthen existing relationships, meet new people and hear directly about the challenges facing the high-throughput chemistry community.
It also reinforced something we see across our projects: the most useful automation starts with understanding the problem. Whether that means improving reaction plate sealing, enabling better reaction monitoring, tackling a difficult sample-handling process or connecting experimental workflows with new AI capabilities, the focus needs to remain on what researchers want to achieve.
We’re looking forward to continuing these conversations as our presence in the US grows, and to sharing more examples of how custom automation can help turn challenging laboratory processes into practical, repeatable workflows.
Because sometimes, the smallest problem in the lab can lead to the most interesting engineering challenge.