Helical Brew

Sura Hadi | Mike Ouren

Just like the DNA of Life from which the phrase, the DNA of Technology originated, the helical construct is a rollercoaster of endless learning, experimentation, and discovery. The Helical Brew Crew is here to take you along for the ride in a fun, relaxed and informative podcast that explores the twists and turns of technology. We are an enthusiastic group of engineering, scientific, and business professionals that share a passion for the development, mastery, and deployment of technology.

  1. 8h ago

    #68 - Building the Software Behind the Automated Lab | Armon Naddaf, Persist AI

    Everyone sees the robot. But some of the hardest problems in laboratory automation live in the software underneath it. Armon Naddaf joins Sura Hadi and Mike Ouren to explore what it actually takes to build software around physical science — from hardware drivers, instrument APIs and version control to orchestration, user interfaces and legacy systems. They dig into why testing changes when software controls a physical process, what scientists need from automation interfaces, how standards like OPC UA help bring order to heterogeneous instruments, where AI adds value, and what foundations are still missing before labs can become genuinely more autonomous. The through-line: reliable automation is not just about the robot. It is about the software architecture that makes the entire laboratory work together.

    #68 - Building the Software Behind the Automated Lab | Armon Naddaf, Persist AI

  2. Sep 20

    #67 - Foundations of the AI-Ready Lab | Aniket Deshpande, NVIDIA

    AI can predict what experiment should happen next. But can the laboratory actually execute it? Aniket Deshpande joins Sura Hadi and Mike Ouren to explore the convergence of biological research, scientific computing and laboratory automation - from genomics, GPUs and protein language models to AI agents, digital twins and the lab-in-the-loop. They dig into what AI is genuinely changing in drug discovery, why experimental validation still matters, what happens when agents need to interact with instruments and scientific systems, and why Aniket prefers thinking about AI as “AI-assisted” rather than simply “AI-ready.” Ultimately, the question isn’t how impressive the model is. It’s whether it moves the science forward. The views expressed by Aniket are his own and do not necessarily represent those of his employer.

    #67 - Foundations of the AI-Ready Lab | Aniket Deshpande, NVIDIA

  3. Aug 30

    #66 - Why Great Laboratory Automation Companies Win | Brian O'Sullivan, Opentrons

    Great technology is only the beginning. Some of the best technology in laboratory automation still fails commercially - while other companies build products customers adopt, trust, and buy again. Brian O'Sullivan has spent more than 20 years seeing what separates the two. Across Velocity11, Agilent, HighRes Biosolutions, Ginkgo Bioworks and now Opentrons, he's watched automation companies scale, disrupt markets, build exceptional teams - and sometimes get in their own way. In this episode, Brian joins Sura Hadi and Mike Ouren to unpack what actually separates automation companies that win from those that don't. In this episode: → Why great technology can still fail commercially → What Velocity11 got right about culture, leadership and execution → Why the best salesperson sometimes says no → Why support may be the most undervalued function in laboratory automation → Why life sciences is still operating on a 20–30-year-old support model → AI hype, autonomous labs and the CFO reality check → Why hardware, software and people have to move together → How open architectures are changing laboratory automation → Why robots are becoming data factories → Why willingness to learn may matter more than the perfect résumé Guest: Brian O'Sullivan - Opentrons Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren Series: Science Means Business

    #66 - Why Great Laboratory Automation Companies Win | Brian O'Sullivan, Opentrons

  4. Aug 16

    #65 - Unfiltered Brew: We're Back | LRIG, SLAS & What's Ahead #helicalbrew #viral #shorts

    Helical Brew: Unfiltered is back. ☕️ After a summer break, Sura Hadi and Mike Ouren catch up on what's happening across the laboratory automation community — from LRIG chapters and the growing Southeast life sciences scene to what's ahead for SLAS 2027 in San Diego. Plus, Mike discovers one upside to turning 50 in the same year America turns 250. In this episode: → What's happening across the LRIG community → The growing Southeast life sciences ecosystem → Looking ahead to SLAS 2027 → What's next for Helical Brew No guest. No slides. Just Sura + Mike, Unfiltered. Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren Series: Helical Brew: Unfiltered

    #65 - Unfiltered Brew: We're Back | LRIG, SLAS & What's Ahead #helicalbrew #viral #shorts

  5. Jun 21

    #64 - Building the Road to Autonomous Labs | Rui Campos, Automata

    First to market with NFC payments two years before Apple Pay. First smartwatch for tarmac environments. Now helping the largest life sciences companies in the world build autonomous labs. Rui Campos has been ahead of the market his entire career, and he's here to talk about where lab automation is actually going. Rui Campos is VP of Product at Automata, leading product, engineering, design, data, and AI. Before life sciences, he drove digital transformation across payments, supply chain, airport operations, and IoT. He brings a cross-industry perspective to lab automation that this industry rarely sees. In this episode: Why the problems in lab automation aren't unique—the environment is What product-market fit actually looks like in life sciences What AI-native teams actually do differently What autonomous labs really mean versus the hype Why only 1% of professionals are actually using AI Guest: Rui Campos, Automata Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren Series: Science Means Business LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/ruicampos Automata: https://automata.tech Email: helicalbrew@gmail.com YouTube: https://youtu.be/oaLvdLOQuQw CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold Open 00:20 Welcome & Guest Intro — Rui Campos, Automata 07:53 Icebreaker — How Do You Know When You're Early vs Simply Wrong? 10:56 Segment 1 — What Life Sciences Can Learn From Other Industries 12:16 Segment 2 — Product Market Fit in Lab Automation 22:48 Segment 3 — AI Native Teams vs AI Theater 37:59 Segment 4 — The Road to Autonomous Labs 49:50 Pick of the Week 55:54 Where to Find Rui @helicalbrew

    #64 - Building the Road to Autonomous Labs | Rui Campos, Automata

  6. Jun 8

    #63 - The Execution Problem: Lab Donkey

    Donkey work. That's what a British scientist called it — the tedious, repetitive, unglamorous work that keeps labs running. Petia and Safwan Hak heard that phrase and built a company around it. Lab Donkey is focused on one of the hardest problems in lab automation: execution, scheduling and robotics for the problems that are too big, too complex and too challenging for anyone else to tackle. And they built it from the outside - Petia from project management and operations, Safwan from enterprise software architecture including time at Automata - watching scientists work, living in the lab, and solving the problems nobody else would touch. In this episode: → Why automation works in demos but breaks in real labs → Why the human is the biggest challenge in automation → What enterprise software can teach life sciences → Why standards are the real bottleneck in lab automation → How Lab Donkey is building what the industry was missing 🎙️ Guests: Petia Hak & Safwan Hak — Lab Donkey 👥 Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren 📁 Series: Automation in the Wild 🔗 Follow Petia on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/petiahak-4bb26a3 🔗 Follow Safwan on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/safwanhak 🔗 Lab Donkey: labdonkey.com 📩 helicalbrew@gmail.com CHAPTERS 00:00 The Story Behind "Lab Donkey" 00:24 Meet the Founders 01:40 The Real Problem with Lab Automation 08:49 Why Automation Demos Don't Match Reality 10:50 What Actually Breaks in a Lab 17:59 Software Lessons Life Sciences Needs 22:11 Is AI Ready for Lab Automation? 26:04 Why So Many Automation Projects Fail 29:03 The Hidden Complexity of Lab Workflows 34:29 Designing for Scientists, Not Programmers 41:52 What Shocked Them About the Industry 45:20 The Mindset Behind Lab Donkey 50:42 The Future of Lab Donkey 51:59 Final Thoughts 👉 YouTube:    / @helicalbrew   🎧 Spotify, iTunes & Amazon Podcasts 📩 helicalbrew@gmail.com 📍 @helicalbrew everywhere #HelicalBrew #AutomationInTheWild #LabAutomation #Biotech #LabDonkey #Robotics #Scheduling #LabTech #SciencePodcast #Podcast #WomenFounders #StartupLife #Biology #Automation

    #63 - The Execution Problem: Lab Donkey

  7. Jun 5

    #62 - Programming Biology: Why Lab Automation Needs a New Language

    Compilers for the wet lab. High-level languages for biology. A co-founder who started pipetting and ended up writing code that talks to robots. Alexandra Rolfness is building something this industry has never seen — and she's here to explain why lab automation needs a new language. Alexandra Rolfness co-founded Tetsuwan Scientific straight out of Caltech, where she studied computer science after years in the wet lab — stem cell production, cancer biology, plant epigenetics. She's one of the few people in this industry who genuinely owns the full stack of biology and software, and she's using it to rewrite how scientists talk to machines. In this episode: → Why automation breaks down in real labs → What it actually means to compile biology → Where LLMs fit in and where they fall short→ What autonomous labs actually mean vs the hype → What it's like being a young woman founder in lab automation🎙️ Guest: Alexandra Rolfness — Tetsuwan Scientific 👥 Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren 📁 Series: AI Thought Leaders 🔗 Follow Alex on LinkedIn:   / arolfness   🔗 Tetsuwan Scientific: tetsuwan.com 📩 helicalbrew@gmail.com CHAPTERS 00:00 Automation Isn’t a Hardware Problem (Cold Open) 00:27 Welcome & Guest Intro — Alexandra Rolfnes, Tetsuwan Scientific 01:08 What People Underestimate About Young Technical Founders 03:01 Why Lab Automation Breaks in Real Labs 18:56 Compiling Biology — A New Language for Automation 32:41 From Wet Lab Scientist to Full-Stack Founder 42:13 Autonomous Labs vs. Reality 50:25 Pick of the Week — Claude Code, Visualization & Retro Ray-Bans 53:59 Final Thoughts & Where to Find Tetsuwan Scientific 👉 YouTube:    / @helicalbrew   🎧 Spotify, iTunes & Amazon Podcasts 📩 helicalbrew@gmail.com 📍 @helicalbrew everywhere #HelicalBrew #AIThoughtLeaders #LabAutomation #Biotech #AI #Biology #Automation #CompilerDesign #DSL #AutonomousLab #SciencePodcast #Podcast #TetsuwanScientific #WomenInSTEM

    #62 - Programming Biology: Why Lab Automation Needs a New Language

  8. May 31

    #61 - Biology Doesn't Scale. Systems Do. | Rich Cohen, Ginkgo Bioworks

    Spider silk in yeast. Antibody AI models. Pharma companies pooling data across competitors. Rich Cohen has been at the intersection of biology and systems for over a decade — and he's here to talk about what actually scales and what doesn't. Rich Cohen is Senior Director of Ginkgo Datapoints at Ginkgo Bioworks, working at the intersection of antibody drug discovery, data and product strategy. He started at the bench, moved through technical program management at Bolt Threads, and now helps build the platforms and data products that pharma actually needs. In this episode: → Why biology doesn't scale on its own → What most biotech gets wrong about products → Where AI is actually delivering value → Why de novo drug design is still overhyped 🎙️ Guest: Rich Cohen — Ginkgo Bioworks / Ginkgo Datapoints 👥 Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren 📁 Series: Systems of Science 🔗 Resources mentioned in this episode: 🧬 Ginkgo Data Points — Services and sample datasets https://datapoints.ginkgo.bio/services 🤝 Antibody Developability Consortium — Ginkgo Data Points x Apheris https://www.apheris.com/join-a-networ... 🧪 Amazon Bio Discovery — Design antibodies and order testing directly from Ginkgo https://aws.amazon.com/biodiscovery/ 🧪 Tamarind Bio — Another platform for designing antibodies and ordering Ginkgo testinghttps://tamarind.bio 📦 Order Ginkgo Data Points services on https://www.scienceexchange.com/ and https://scientist.com/ 📊 Download Ginkgo datasets on https://huggingface.co/ 📄 Journal Articles: → A high-throughput platform for biophysical antibody developability assessment to enable AI/ML model training: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.10... → 2025 Ginkgo Datapoints Antibody Developability Competition — results and observations: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/... → Using a GPT-5-driven autonomous lab to optimize cell-free protein synthesis — OpenAI x Ginkgo collaboration: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64... 🔗 Follow Rich on LinkedIn:   / cohenrich   🔗 Ginkgo Datapoints: https://datapoints.ginkgo.bio 📩 helicalbrew@gmail.com CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold Open 00:16 Welcome & Guest Intro - Rich Cohen, Ginkgo Datapoints 02:06 Icebreaker - When Did Biology Stop Being Science? 03:20 Segment 1: When Biology Becomes a System 14:44 Segment 2: Why Most Biotech Never Becomes a Product 26:50 Segment 3: AI and Data in Antibody Discovery 40:48 Segment 4: What Everyone Gets Wrong About Scaling Biotech 46:51 Shout Out to Ops & Dreamers 47:34 Pick of the Week - Company Retreat 51:58 Where to Find Rich 👉 YouTube:    / @helicalbrew   🎧 Spotify, iTunes & Amazon Podcasts 📩 helicalbrew@gmail.com 📍 @helicalbrew everywhere #HelicalBrew #SystemsOfScience #Biotech #LabAutomation #AI #DrugDiscovery #AntibodyDiscovery #GinkgoDatapoints #GinkgoBioworks #SciencePodcast #Podcast #BiotechOps #laboratory #science #projectmanagement #viralvideo

    #61 - Biology Doesn't Scale. Systems Do. | Rich Cohen, Ginkgo Bioworks
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Just like the DNA of Life from which the phrase, the DNA of Technology originated, the helical construct is a rollercoaster of endless learning, experimentation, and discovery. The Helical Brew Crew is here to take you along for the ride in a fun, relaxed and informative podcast that explores the twists and turns of technology. We are an enthusiastic group of engineering, scientific, and business professionals that share a passion for the development, mastery, and deployment of technology.

Information

  • Creator
    Sura Hadi | Mike Ouren
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    68
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Sura Hadi | Mike Ouren
  • Show Website
    Helical Brew