Helical Brew

🎙️ Guest: Steven Laflin, Former Principal SHE Program Manager, Genentech🎧 Hosts: Mike Ouren, Sura Hadi & Elizabeth Rodziewicz📺 Series: Science Means BusinessLabs aren’t failing because the science is wrong—they’re failing because the systems were built to break. Steven Laflin has managed over $325M in capital investments across life sciences. From Eli Lilly to Genentech, he’s the guy who get...

🎙️ Guest: Kate Halter, PhD – Field Sales Engineer at Tecan 🎧 Hosts: Mike Ouren, Sura Hadi & Elizabeth Rodziewicz 📺 Series: Automation in the Wild – Helical Brew Lab automation doesn’t sell itself. In this episode of Automation in the Wild, Kate Halter, PhD, joins us to talk about what really happens after the install. From neuroscience labs to field sales, Kate shares what it takes to build...

🎙 Hosts: Sura Hadi | Mike Ouren | Elizabeth Rodziewicz 🎧 Series: Unfiltered Brew – Helical Brew Intermission ☕️ Lab chaos, cool cars, and even cooler stories. This unscripted intermission episode gives the Helical Brew crew a chance to go off-the-rails (and off-the-record) about robot mishaps, automation bloopers, and the biotech grind. From coolant caps that won’t budge to janitors shadowboxing...

🎙️ Guest: Constantin Radu, Commercial Leader at Molecular Devices (Danaher) 🎧 Hosts: Mike Ouren, Sura Hadi & Elizabeth Rodziewicz 📺 Series: Science Means Business Automation is only as successful as the problems it solves. In this episode of Helical Brew, Constantine Radu joins us to explore how true lab innovation scales - across markets, cultures, and customer needs. From a five-meter robo...

🎙️ Guest: Charbel Eid, VP of Platform at BigHat Biosciences 🎧 Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren Antibody discovery meets AI copilots. In this episode of Helical Brew, Charbel Eid walks us through how BigHat Biosciences is blending synthetic biology, machine learning, and real-world biotech to accelerate drug design - without replacing the scientists behind it. We talk toddler metaphors, Clippy mo...

▶️ Hosts: Mike Ouren & Elizabeth Rodziewicz 🎙️ Recorded live from the show floor at SLAS Europe 2025 in Hamburg 📻 In this wrap-up edition of Helical Brew, Mike and Elizabeth unpack two packed days in Hamburg - from record-setting product launches to UI upgrades we didn’t see coming. If you like benchtop deployables, centrifuges that finally make sense, or just nerding out over perfect API reu...

▶️ Guests: Tim Verweij (Lab Services) & Martin Pinzer (Lab Automation Network) 🎙 Host: Mike Ouren 📻 Live from SLAS 2025 in Hamburg, this special episode of Helical Brew captures the energy, innovation, and late-night gossip of Europe's premier lab automation conference. From modular robotics to organoid centers, Tim and Martin share what caught their attention on the expo floor and what’s...

▶️ Guest: Andrew Hurder, Field Application Scientist at Artel (Advanced Instruments) 🎙 Hosts: Sura Hadi, Mike Ouren & Elizabeth Rodziewicz 📻 In this episode of Automation in the Wild - titled “Hands-On with Lab Automation: Experiences from the Field with Andrew Hurder” - we drop straight into the chaos, comedy, and challenges of real-world lab automation. Andrew Hurder joins the crew to share...

▶️ Guests: None – It’s just us this time 🎙 Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren 📻 This episode of Helical Brew takes a break from guest interviews and dives into the chaos, comedy, and commentary that happens when two automation nerds are left alone with coffee, curved monitors, and too many dogs. From shrinkflation and Lego Ferraris to parenting via machete and skateboarding through life, this one&...

▶️ Guest: Ingrid Barbosa-Farias, Founder of SimAtomic 🎙 Hosts: Sura Hadi, Mike Ouren & Elizabeth Rodziewicz 📻 This episode of AI Thought Leaders dives into the powerful intersection of molecular simulations and AI - and how one founder is using smarter algorithms to accelerate drug discovery and reduce R&D costs by up to 200x. Ingrid Barbosa-Farias shares her journey from biotech bench sc...

▶️ Guest: Tim Verweij, Global Automation Expert, Lab Services B.V. 🎙 Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren 📻 This episode of Automation in the Wild explores what actually makes automation successful - and why simplicity, trust, and saying no are more powerful than the flashiest robot on the showroom floor. Tim Verweij walks us through his journey from hands-on scientist to global automation leader. W...

▶️ Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren📻 Between AI episodes, we’re keeping it casual - over earthquakes, TikTok confessions, Amazon scams, PS5 dreams, and nostalgic tales of moving and gaming through the decades. This Helical Brew Intermission brings Sura and Mike into an unfiltered conversation across tech chaos, gaming nostalgia, and retail horror stories, all fueled by caffeine and a little frie...

▶️ Hosts: Sura Hadi, Mike Ouren & Elizabeth Rodziewicz 📻 In this Helical Brew Intermission, the crew dives deep into the chaos of modern tech, from Disney’s Pear computers to Tesla-vandal-proof bumper stickers, and the Gen Z slang your pilot probably shouldn’t use. We talk cloud storage obsession, overpriced iPhones, obscure headphone specs, and whether Apple and Sony could’ve been soulmates...

▶️ Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren 📻 Between AI episodes, we took a detour - into Scotch rituals, comic book logic, nostalgic TV, science jokes, and what lab automation might smell like. This Helical Brew Intermission brings co-hosts Mike and Sura into an unfiltered conversation covering everything from lab coat mottos to Friday movie quotes. 🔹 What if your science career was a comic book? 🔹...

▶️ Hosts: Elizabeth Rodziewicz, Sura Hadi, Jeff Nagle, and Mike Ouren 🎙 Guest: G. Tony Reina | Head of Machine Learning, Exthymic 🔍 Episode Title: “The Machine Learning Blueprint: AI Architecture with G. Anthony Reina” In the third episode of our AI Thought Leaders Series, we welcome AI architect and machine learning expert G. Tony Reina for a mind-expanding conversation on the evolution and impa...

▶️ Hosts: Elizabeth Rodziewicz, Sura Hadi, Jeff Nagle, and Mike Ouren 🎙️ Helical Brew - AI Thought Leaders Series | Episode 2 What if AI hallucinations held the key to scientific progress? In this episode, we’re joined by John Conway, founder of 20/15 Visioneers and longtime pharma executive, for a raw and powerful conversation on how AI is reshaping life sciences - from institutional memory to so...

▶️ Hosts: Elizabeth Rodziewicz, Sura Hadi, Jeff Nagle, and Mike Ouren 🧠 The next scientific revolution is here - and it’s powered by AI. In the premiere episode of our AI Thought Leaders Series, we sit down with Nick Edwards, PhD, neuroscientist and CEO of Potato AI, to explore the future of AI in scientific research and lab automation. 🔹 Can AI design better experiments than scientists? 🔹 How...

▶️Hosts: Elizabeth Rodziewicz, Sura Hadi, Jeff Nagle, and Mike Ouren 🚀 Lab automation is supposed to make work easier - but why are scientists still stuck babysitting machines? Companies spend hundreds of thousands on automation, only to assign full-time staff to ensure it actually works. That’s not automation - it’s inefficiency. In this episode of Helical Brew, we break down the real challenges...

▶️Hosts: Elizabeth Rodziewicz, Sura Hadi, Jeff Nagle, and Mike Ouren 🚀 The best ideas don’t always win—execution does. In the final episode of our Blueprints to Breakthroughs series, we sit down with Julie O’Shaughnessy, COO of Vivodyne, to uncover why biotech operations are the secret weapon behind scaling scientific discoveries into real-world breakthroughs. 🔹 Why do biotech startups struggle...

Title: 🤖 Connected Labs: How Automata is Scaling Scientific Automation | Mostafa ElSayed | Helical Brew Hosts: Elizabeth Rodziewicz, Sura Hadi, Jeff Nagle, and Mike Ouren🚨 Lab automation is evolving—beyond isolated robots to fully connected, scalable workflows. But are we thinking big enough? In this episode of Helical Brew, Mostafa ElSayed, CEO of Automata, shares how his company pivoted from r...

Hosts: Elizabeth Rodziewicz, Sura Hadi, Jeff Nagle, and Mike Ouren No guest this week, but Jeff, Sura, and Mike talk Hockey, MacBook Dongles, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rush and more on a relaxed intermission episode. Enjoy!

Hosts: Elizabeth Rodziewicz, Sura Hadi, Jeff Nagle, and Mike Ouren Description: In our second episode of the Blueprints to Breakthroughs series we sit down and talk with silk biomaterial enthusiast, Co-founder, and Chief Technology Officer David Breslauer. His company, Bolt ( https://boltthreads.com ) has a fascinating story to tell about pivoting and adapting to both market needs and technologica...

Hosts: Elizabeth Rodziewicz, Sura Hadi, Jeff Nagle, and Mike Ouren Description: Welcome to our first episode in our Blueprints to Breakthroughs series. In this episode we talk with James Fieberg, a passionate STEM educator. James is a San Diego County Teacher of the Year winner and AP physics teacher. Segment 1: The Future of Engineering Engineering Education Segment 2: Essential Skills for Future...

Hosts: Elizabeth Rodziewicz, Sura Hadi, Jeff Nagle, and Mike Ouren Description: Special edition alert! All four of us got together in San Diego and share our thoughts on SLAS 2025.

Guest: Ian Cooper, Founder & Lab Automation Recruitment Consultant Hosts: Elizabeth Rodziewicz, Sura Hadi, Jeff Nagle, and Mike Ouren Description: In the third and final episode of our SLAS 2025 conference lead up series, we talked with Ian Cooper, a seasoned recruiter that specializes in Lab Automation. In this episode, you will hear the insiders perspective about: -What’s the right about of time...