The IBO Design Awards for Laboratory Equipment reward unique, efficient industrial designs of laboratory equipment that receives an electrical current, can be used for at least a year and does not measure a sample trait. The equipment must be user-friendly, robust and dependable and enhance everyday use. A product’s design can emphasize these features to improve its operation. An eye-catching design can enhance a product.

The industrial designs of this year’s three winners show a trend toward streamlined models replacing cumbersome ones. The winning products are unpretentious yet functional, with refined designs that aim to simplify the process for the user. With these products, the manufacturers show a commitment to updating equipment to allow the user to perform tasks more easily.

Gold Award

The 2011 IBO Gold Award for Laboratory Equipment Design goes to PolyScience’s MX Immersion Circulator. The revolutionary design replaces the boxy, clunky immersion circulators’ look of the past with a sleek, streamlined design. The all-black motif adds to the sophisticated look. Functionality is incorporated into the design with a backlit readout large enough to see from the other side of the lab, a durable mounting clamp that attaches to both flat and curved tank walls, and a slide that allows for easy flow rate adjustment. The MX Immersion Circulator takes up about 25% less space in the tank than traditional circulators, which allows for more room for samples, PolyScience President Philip Preston told IBO.

The MX Immersion Circulator measures 109.2 x 96.5 x 358.1 mm (4.3 x 3.8 x 14.1 in) and weighs 1.8 kg (4 lb). The list price is $919. Cesaroni Design partnered with PolyScience to transform the conditions for product performance and features into a design meaningfully distinctive from those manufactured by PolyScience and its competitors. The product took about a year to develop. Challenges included “finding a plastic that could withstand temperatures as high as 260°C, was FDA approved and could also meet our requirements regarding the desired surface finish,” Mr. Preston told IBO.

The priorities for the design were precise temperature control and powerful circulation, compact design, and an overall presentation that resembled a consumer product and not a “piece of laboratory equipment,” Mr. Preston said. “The instrument needed to deliver extremely precise performance; be able to withstand the rigors of day-in, day-out operation; had to be extremely simple to use; and take up as little space as possible.”

Silver Award

The 2011 IBO Silver Laboratory Equipment Design Award goes to Hosokawa Micron’s Alpine Air Jet Sieve e200 LS, which is designed for particle-size analysis of dry material in the range of 20 µL to 4 mm or µL to 2.5 mm, depending on the size of the mesh. The product’s rounded edges coupled with its clean lines and simple use of black, white and silver make for a modern design.

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isplayed, centralized high-resolution touch screen puts style and functionality at the user’s fingertips. The touch screen allows for intuitive operation, piloting the user through the process. A clear plastic cover allows the user to oversee the sieving process. The Alpine Air Jet Sieve e200 LS measures 370 x 405 x 368 mm (14.6 x 15.9 x 14.5 in) and weighs 15 kg (33 lb). Its eControl software is upgradable and available in three levels: basic, professional and ultimate.

Bronze Award

Millipore’s Samplicity filtration system received IBO’s 2011 Bronze Award for Laboratory Equipment Design. The system replaces traditional single-sample syringe-tip filters with vacuum-powered filtering that allows for up to eight samples to be filtered at once, providing a high-throughput alternative.

The system, devised to allow users to achieve higher yields for sample volumes as small as 200 µL, measures 445 x 102 x 91 mm (17.5 x 4.0 x 3.6 in) and weighs 2.8 kg (6.2 lb). The system is wrapped in a striking bright green or blue package and clean lines reminiscent of other Millipore products. The unique design includes angled vials to prevent sample spillover and air bubbles.