...would be one way to keep the student population under control, but this story has more to do with the production of sterile agar plates for bacteria cultures than the aftermath of Freshers Week
Undergraduates are a demanding lot, and no-one is more aware of that than John Dwyer, the departmental superintendent in Lancaster University's Biological Sciences department: his department has four hundred of them.
And what they demand are sterile agar plates and media for bacteria cultures.
His teaching technicians have to prepare thousands of them every term.
When the laboratory practicals are over, the used plates and cultures have to be sterilised prior to disposal, so the discard loads are as big as the main sterilisation loads.
To help with this highly variable sterilising duty, John's department purchased an Astell ASB300 front loading autoclave with a 300 litre capacity as the main workhorse, and subsequently added an AMB230 40 litre benchtop unit for occasional smaller loads.
"The Astell units are very reliable", says John, "which is why we bought them again.
And the automatic operation is a real boon - we just load them, select the cycle and press the button." Automatic operation is a key feature of Astell autoclaves. Programming is Pin-protected so that only authorised technicians can access the sequence - essential in a laboratory catering for a large number of users, any one of whom might inadvertently change an unprotected programme.
The controller allows four programmes to be stored so that selection of different programmes for, say, glassware, culture media and discards, is available at the touch of a button.
Load sensed process timing, using a 'wandering' temperature probe inserted into the centre of the load starts the sterilisation timer only when the whole load is up to temperature.
This means that a small load is sterilised more quickly than a larger one, and a selectable 'profiled overshoot boost' feature speeds up the heating sequence.
Another option is automatic water-cooling for rapid cool down after completion of sterilisation, which means less waiting time and more hands-on laboratory work.
But just in case any of the undergraduates get over-enthusiastic, the Astell autoclaves are all fitted with interlocked doors, which cannot be opened until the contents have reached a safe temperature.
Two other features which make Astell a popular choice with high throughput laboratories like John's are the delayed start and 'holdwarm' options on the automatic programmes.
The delayed start facility allows the machine to be loaded and set to start at a convenient time - perhaps on a lower electricity tariff - and the 'holdwarm' feature maintains the autoclave at a pre-set temperature on completion of the sterilisation sequence.
This means that the autoclave can be run overnight and the contents will be sterile and ready for use in the morning.
But unattended operation doesn't mean that the unit is not supervised.
The temperature profile is constantly monitored and an integral data printer provides a hard copy record of the sterilisation sequence in accordance with GLP. There is also an RS232 interface for connection to an external PC or central data logging and alarm system.
All of which makes Astell the natural choice for undergraduate sterilisation - in the nicest possible way.
