The behavior of biological cells in a “petri dish” is one of the most important tools for understanding disease progression, discovering treatment strategies, and drug screening. However, rigor and reproducibility of the findings and accessibility to several capabilities are serious challenges. A key issue is the use of highly complex, costly, and isolated pieces of equipment for a small part of the experiment. To overcome this challenge, at the Center for Lung Biology, we have developed a “LEGOⓇ bricks” approach to build an automation-based modular framework—Incubator Eye (iEye™). One of these “bricks” has provided the scientific community with an automated open-source technology to measure physical forces in the cells. The framework provided undergraduates with courses and projects to build on to make their case for higher education or seek industry jobs. Overall, iEye™ represents a sustainable approach unique to academic institutions for enhancing the quality of both research and ed
