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. #63 - The Execution Problem | Lab Donkey

    5d ago

    #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

    53 min
  2. #62 - Programming Biology: Why Lab Automation Needs a New Language

    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

    55 min
  3. #61 - Biology Doesn't Scale. Systems Do. | Rich Cohen, Ginkgo Bioworks

    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

    54 min
  4. #60 - Your Career Is a Business: How to Own It Like One

    May 8

    #60 - Your Career Is a Business: How to Own It Like One

    She walked into one of the most technical industries on the planet and started closing deals. No lab background. No engineering degree. Just relationships, research, and the confidence to own any room. De'Nye Hopkins is a Business eDvelopment Account Manager at E Tech Group managing a $2.5M territory — and the founder of Financially Abundant, a platform dedicated to helping women build financial freedom on their own terms.This episode goes deep on the sales philosophy nobody teaches you, what financial freedom actually means, why the world isn't set up for women to be good with money, and the phone call at 23 that started everything. 🎙️ Guest: De'Nye Hopkins — E Tech Group / Financially Abundant 👥 Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren 📁 Series: Science Means Business 🔗 Follow De'Nye on LinkedIn: De'Nye Hopkins 🔗 Instagram & TikTok: @DenyeCourtney 🔗 Podcast: Financially Abundant CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold Open — “Shots at 8am?!” 🍻 00:06 Welcome to Science Meets Business 01:03 From Teaching Abroad → Closing Deals 03:44 Guest Intro — De'Nye Hopkins ($2.5M Territory) 04:23 When Did You Stop Apologizing for Your Background? 07:00 Why Being “Non-Technical” Is an Advantage 08:51 Be a Human, Not a Robot 11:49 Learning Automation Without an Engineering Degree 13:51 Selling Technical Work Without Being Technical 15:17 “Be Seedy” — The Sales Mindset That Works 17:41 You’re Being Sold to Every Day 19:15 Death by PowerPoint 20:19 The #1 Sales Mistake 21:04 Think Like a Business Owner 23:40 You’re the CEO of Your Career 25:26 Why Failure Is Required 29:04 Growth vs Plateau — What Actually Matters 32:04 What Engineers Get Wrong About Their Value 33:26 Fear of Change Is Costing Companies 35:03 Sticker Shock — $250K → $1M 40:25 Negotiation Is a Game 42:57 What Financial Freedom Actually Feels Like 46:01 $170K Debt at 23 48:21 Why Money Is Still Taboo 52:06 Why the System Isn’t Built for Women 55:44 No Money = No Options 58:35 Building While Working Full-Time 1:01:44 Avoiding Burnout 1:03:06 Win the Morning, Win the Day 1:04:09 Stop Waiting — Just Start 1:06:38 Pick of the Week — Shelby Sapp 1:08:13 Outro 👉 YouTube:    / @helicalbrew   🎧 Spotify, iTunes & Amazon Podcasts 📩 helicalbrew@gmail.com 📍 @helicalbrew everywhere #helicalbrew #sciencemeansbusiness #LabAutomation #Biotech #WomenInBusiness #FinancialFreedom #BDLife #SalesTips #Podcast #SciencePodcast #CareerAdvice #Entrepreneurship #ETechGroup

    1h 10m
  5. #59 - Unfiltered Brew: Wrong State, Zombie Airport & Bunny Ears

    May 7

    #59 - Unfiltered Brew: Wrong State, Zombie Airport & Bunny Ears

    Unfiltered Brew – Podcast Playlist | #HelicalBrew #ViralVideo #Podcast No guest. No agenda. Just two people in lab automation who haven't talked in a while — and apparently one of them landed in the wrong state. In this Unfiltered Brew episode your favorites hosts catch up on life, travel chaos, new gear, upcoming guests, and whatever else comes up. Which is a lot. 🎙️ Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren 🎧 Subscribe →    / @helicalbrew   📩 Want to be a guest? helicalbrew@gmail.com 🎬 Chapters 00:00 Cold Open — Zombie Apocalypse at O'Hare 00:18 Mixer Boy & New Gear 01:38 Welcome Back 02:00 Vietnamese Iced Coffee & Turkish Coffee Debate 04:00 She Flew Into Ohio & Landed in Kentucky 06:00 No Sun in Cincinnati 07:00 O'Hare: The Pre-Apocalypse Hub 08:00 Chicago Airports Ranked 11:00 SLAS Boston Recap 12:00 Lost Gloves & Cold Weather 14:00 Naming Names — A Seinfeld Moment 16:00 Upcoming Guests & AI Series 18:00 Siri Got Too Casual 21:00 Germany & SLAS Europe Vienna 22:00 Hotel Setups & Bunny Ears 23:00 MacBook Neo & New Laptop Setup 24:00 Merch Update & Where to Find Us 👉 YouTube:    / @helicalbrew   🎧 Spotify, iTunes & Amazon Podcasts 📩 helicalbrew@gmail.com 📍 @helicalbrew everywhere #HelicalBrew #LabAutomation #Biotech #UnfilteredBrew #Podcast #SciencePodcast #BiotechPodcast #LabLife #PodcastLife #slas2026 🔔 Like, comment, and share if this sparked an idea (or a laugh). 📩 Want to be a guest on the podcast? Send us a message at helicalbrew@gmail.com.

    13 min
  6. #58 - Building the Missing Layer: Open Scheduling, Swarm Automation & Why Labs Need Control

    May 6

    #58 - Building the Missing Layer: Open Scheduling, Swarm Automation & Why Labs Need Control

    Automation in the Wild – Podcast Playlist | #HelicalBrew #ViralVideo #Podcast Lab automation runs on software nobody talks about. Schedulers, drivers, integration layers — the invisible glue holding million dollar systems together. Today we're pulling it apart. Mike Salmi is the founder of Cheshire Labs and creator of Orca, an open source scheduler built from years of real automation work in clinical, contract, and biotech R&D environments. We get into why vendor software keeps falling short, what it actually costs to write a device driver ($14,000 apparently), why open source changes everything for startups, and how AI just rewrote the rules. Guest: Mike Salmi — Cheshire Labs Hosts: Mike Ouren & Sura Hadi 🔗 cheshirelabs.io 🔗 Orca on GitHub 🔗 Mike Salmi on LinkedIn 🎬 Chapters 00:00 Cold Open 00:19 Welcome & Intro 01:42 Icebreaker — When did you know you had to build it yourself? 05:27 Life Inside Real Automation Stacks 11:43 Where Vendor Software Falls Short 16:29 13 Windows Licenses 19:44 Device Drivers & AI 22:17 Why Every Integration Feels Custom 24:03 Cheshire Labs & Orca — The Origin Story 25:39 Why Build an Open Source Scheduler? 28:03 Cloud Native Lab Infrastructure 31:42 Swarm AI in Practice 34:42 Claude Driving the Robot 35:00 AI Helps & AI Risks 40:04 AI Readiness Factor 44:15 Picks of the Week — Claude Code & Flipper Zero 47:22 Wrap Up & Where to Find Mike #HelicalBrew #LabAutomation #OpenSource #Biotech #LabRobotics #AutomationInTheWild #SLAS2026

    49 min
  7. #57 - It Worked Yesterday: What 20 Yrs of Lab Automation Svc Teaches You About Reality

    Mar 2

    #57 - It Worked Yesterday: What 20 Yrs of Lab Automation Svc Teaches You About Reality

    🎙️ Guest: Dave May | Owner & Lead Service Engineer, DCM Bioservices 🎧 Hosts: Mike Ouren & Sura Hadi 📺 Series: Automation in the Wild "You can't lie to the robot. It doesn't know." – Dave May When a 500lb robot dumps a $250,000 instrument on the floor, someone has to show up and fix it. That someone is Dave May. In this episode, Dave pulls back the curtain on what lab automation service really looks like — the duct tape on light curtains, the instruments collecting dust in corners, and why the robot is almost never actually the problem. 🧠 What You'll Learn: Why 25-30% of automation failures are actually user errorWhat buyers should always ask before signing a POHow proprietary software is changing third-party serviceWhy keeping your instrument clean is your best PM strategyWhat "validated" really means when the plate sealer isn't integratedThe real reason robots get fired for cycle time☕ Whether you're running a lab, buying automation, or keeping it alive after warranty — this one's for you. 🎧 Subscribe for new episodes →    / @helicalbrew   📩 Want to be a guest? Email us: helicalbrew@gmail.com 📍 TikTok, Shorts & more: @helicalbrew ⏱️ EPISODE CHAPTERS 00:00 – Cold Open: When the Robot Wins 00:29 – Intro & Dave's Background 01:21 – First "Oh No" Moment: Let the Smoke Out 02:42 – How Dave Arrived in Lab Automation Service 04:50 – What People Don't Understand About Service Engineers 06:41 – The Duct Tape Hall of Shame 08:32 – What Do People Actually Blame? 11:10 – The Robot Defense Attorney 13:43 – Craziest Story: 500lb Robot vs. Liquid Handler 15:13 – Most Common Causes of Downtime 16:13 – Why Nobody Designs for Serviceability 17:53 – The Bravo: A Love Story 19:10 – DDR & The Benchbot Era 21:12 – How Often Is the Robot Actually the Problem? 22:56 – The Validation Gap Nobody Talks About 24:08 – When Labs Fire Their Robots for Being Too Slow 26:31 – How Automation Has Gotten Harder to Service 27:43 – Proprietary Software & Locked-Down Systems 29:07 – What DCM Bioservices Actually Does 33:11 – Proprietary Software: The Real Bottleneck 37:18 – Buyer Intelligence: Questions to Ask Before the PO 38:53 – What Should Be Non-Negotiable in Service 39:29 – Accessibility: The Thing Nobody Plans For 42:07 – 3D Printing: The MacGyver of Life Science 43:41 – Wrapping Up: How to Have Fewer Emergency Calls 46:09 – The Light Curtain & Liquid Problem 47:30 – Pick of the Week: Vessel Screwdriver & David Clark Headset 55:17 – How to Reach Dave & DCM Bioservices 🔗 Connect with Dave MayWebsite: https://dcmbio.com LinkedIn:   / david-may-6650b91   #HelicalBrew #AutomationInTheWild #LabAutomation #LabRobotics #BiotechOps #ServiceEngineering #LiquidHandling #LabLife #BiotechInnovation #ScientificStorytelling #RoboticsEngineering #LifeScience #PodcastClip #sciencepodcast #techpodcast #biotechstartup #viralshorts #podcastshorts #SLAS2026 #LabEquipment #LabManagement #LabTech #automation #robotics

    58 min
  8. #56 - Shorts, Algorithms & the Reality of Growing a Science Podcast

    Mar 1

    #56 - Shorts, Algorithms & the Reality of Growing a Science Podcast

    🎙 Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren After 55 episodes of Helical Brew, we’re cracking open an Unfiltered Brew - a candid, behind-the-scenes conversation about what’s actually working, what’s changed, and what growing a technical podcast really looks like. From YouTube algorithms and Shorts strategy to why professionals rarely leave LinkedIn, this episode is an honest check-in on content, platforms, and the reality of building an audience in science and lab automation — plus SLAS prep, tech culture, and conference chaos along the way. This isn’t a how-to guide. It’s context between episodes. 🎯 What We Cover Why Shorts changed everything for Helical BrewHow YouTube behaves once you hit consistencyWhy LinkedIn engagement ≠ listensAlgorithms, visibility, and feedback loopsCES, humanoid robots, and hype vs realitySLAS Boston prep and logistics🎬 Chapters 00:00 – Cold Open 00:35 – YouTube After 55 Episodes 05:20 – Why Shorts Matter 07:55 – Tech Culture & Humanoid Robots 12:00 – Travel & Conference Reality 17:45 – SLAS Prep & Recording in the Wild 28:10 – Wrap-Up 🔔 SubscribeWe explore automation, AI, and the future of science — from real labs to real conversations. 👉 YouTube:    / @helicalbrew   👉 All platforms: www.helicalbrew.com 📩 Want to collaborate or be a guest? helicalbrew@gmail.com #HelicalBrew #UnfilteredBrew #SciencePodcast #LabAutomation#PodcastBehindTheScenes #YouTubeShorts #ContentStrategy #SLAS2026 #shorts #viralvideo #ai #science

    30 min
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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
    63
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Sura Hadi | Mike Ouren
  • Show Website
    Helical Brew