Stilla Technologies is a start-up that develops a digital PCR system for the healthcare sector.

The digital PCR technology proposed by Stilla is based on the division of a sample to be analyzed into tens of thousands of drops in a microfluidic chip. Genetic amplification then takes place in each of these drops. This method allows to increase considerably the signal/noise ratio and to realize a genetic analysis with a sensitivity much higher than the classical techniques. A 3 or 6 color fluorescence microscope is then used to acquire images of the drop crystals, in which the algorithms developed by Stilla automatically detect and classify the drops to deduce the estimated concentration of the desired genes in the sample.

The results thus obtained are then used for numerous applications at the cutting edge of medicine: liquid biopsy, cell and gene therapy, detection of pathogens or environmental and food contamination, organ transplantation, detection and monitoring of rare diseases and cancers.

The entire digital PCR process (sample preparation by partitioning, amplification reaction and target detection by optical reading) takes place in a microfluidic chip, which is the core of our technology.

After launching this year its third generation of microfluidic chips, the Ruby Chip, Stilla Technologies continues to innovate, developing new microfluidic chips and new instruments, while increasing the reliability and growth of its production resources to better support the growth of the markets it serves.

Objectives of the internship

Stilla Technologies launched this year its third generation of microfluidic chip, with the Ruby Chip. The main innovation of this chip was to change the formulation of the oil used for sample partitioning. This new oil presents properties that open new perspectives in terms of automation of the digital PCR process, as well as in terms of scaling up our production processes.

The first objective of this internship is to identify the needs of the different stakeholders for a new generation of chips. Secondly, the aim will be to explore how to capitalize on the new oil formulation, while proposing new innovations, to develop a fourth generation of microfluidic chips, always more performing, reliable and easy to produce.

Main missions

The internship will be divided into two themes:

Market research and specification

o Review of our chip design portfolio:
▪ Technical strengths and areas for improvement (performance, ease of production)
▪ Adequacy to customer needs
o Organization of interviews and round tables on the expectations of the stakeholders in the definition of our future chips: end customers, product management, internal users, industrialization, and production
o Aggregation of high level expectations and translation into technical specifications

Prototyping and characterization
o Identification and implementation of new prototyping methods
o Proposal of microfluidic design
o Realization of prototypes
o Study of the risks related to the designs
o Characterization of performance with respect to specifications

The intern will be part of the Product Development department and the Microfluidics team.

He/she will collaborate with the other R&D departments (development of biomolecular tests and software), the team in charge of Industrializationn of production methods and the team in charge of Product Management.

• Advanced training in physics, chemistry, or mechanics.
• Appetence for experimental work.
• Demonstrates rigor and thoroughness in the execution of experimental plans and in the keeping of records.
• CAD skills (SolidWorks) would be a plus.
• Good capacity of analysis and synthesis.
• Has a great autonomy in the realization of the work and the synthesis of the results.
• At ease in English, both orally and in writing.
• Internship during the curriculum, internship of caesura or end of studies internship accepted.

Start as soon as possible