The University of Maryland will launch a new Collaborative for the Realization of Autonomous Biomanufacturing (CRAB) Lab, a remotely accessible, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled test bed for users from across the U.S. to program automated workflows that design, execute and analyze biomanufacturing experiments. The lab is funded by a four-year $17.3 million award from the U.S. National Science Foundation Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (NSF TIP).

The CRAB Lab is one of 20 Programmable Cloud Laboratory Node sites supported through a $400 million NSF PCL Test Bed investment. The network’s goal is to create AI-enabled laboratories that test, scale and demonstrate new methods and tools for automated science, engineering discoveries and translation.

“Being selected for this award reflects UMD’s commitment to solving real biomanufacturing challenges,” said William Bentley, Robert E. Fischell Distinguished Professor, director of the Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, and CRAB Lab principal investigator. “What excites me most about the CRAB Lab is that it’s not just conducting research; it's contributing to a national resource where researchers across academia, industry and government will be able to access experiment data and automation capabilities that would otherwise be out of reach.”

Biomanufacturing faces a critical need for real-time data processing. Traditional molecular measurement processes are too slow to train AI models, limiting the potential for experiment optimization and scaling. The CRAB Lab will incorporate a novel electronic measurement tool, developed at the Fischell Institute in partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Food and Drug Administration. The tool allows for high-velocity, high-volume measurements to complement molecular data, providing comprehensive datasets for training AI models. With this information, models will be able to identify new biological vital signs — key combinations of measurements that correlate to product quality, titer and other critical process attributes — to optimize biomanufacturing processes for scale.

Bentley, who is also appointed in UMD’s Fischell Department of Bioengineering and Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR), leads the lab alongside co-PIs Gregory Payne, research professor at IBBR and Fischell Institute Fellow; Martha Wang, assistant director of the Fischell Institute and clinical professor; Alan Zaoxing Liu, assistant professor of computer science at UMD; and Hussain Dahodwala, assistant research professor at IBBR, with support from Ang Li, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UMD.

The CRAB Lab builds on a long-standing partnership between UMD and NIST through IBBR, which will serve as the physical home for instrumentation, facilities and scientific expertise. The lab will integrate UMD's AI and biosensor technology proficiency with industrial-scale biomanufacturing expertise from Ginkgo Bioworks, a pioneer in the development of autonomous labs.

“The CRAB Lab is aligned with the recently initiated Center for Biomeasurement and Biomanufacturing Innovation, a $33 million collaboration between UMD, the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and NIST, designed to accelerate the translation of new technologies to industry,” said IBBR Director Jonathan Dinman, a professor of cell biology and molecular genetics at UMD. “Leveraging the recently renovated testbed space at IBBR, the CRAB Lab’s ‘lab-in-the-loop’ will accelerate development and application of AI to biomanufacturing processes, facilitating scale-up, which will increase the pace and lessen the costs of developing the next generation of biotherapeutics.” 

The CRAB Lab will initially serve 30 biopharmaceutical companies addressing industry-wide challenges through the Advanced Mammalian Biomanufacturing Innovation Center, an NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center. This consortium will gain access to automated capabilities and cloud-based interfaces for remote, high-throughput bioprocess optimization, dramatically shortening time-to-market for biomanufactured products.

“AI paired with autonomous labs is how discoveries get made and scaled at the same time,” said Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks. “The CRAB Lab gives researchers and manufacturers a shared, real-time feedback loop that could move biomanufacturing innovation from years to months.”

The initiative aligns with the White House AI Action Plan and recommendations from the bipartisan National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology. By automating experimentation and data interpretation, the CRAB Lab will accelerate the discovery and translation of breakthrough biomanufacturing methods while strengthening U.S. supply chains in critical biotechnology sectors.

In addition to accelerating research, the CRAB Lab will establish on-site and remote educational programs through a dedicated training hub at The Universities at Shady Grove. These initiatives will develop the workforce required for high-demand jobs in biomanufacturing.

This award will create a unique ecosystem where academic research, federal laboratories and private industry converge to solve pressing challenges in bioprocess optimization and manufacturing scalability while also training tomorrow's bioengineers and positioning Maryland as a national leader in autonomous biomanufacturing innovation.