Engineering Consulting
Due Diligence – M&A
In Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), seeking an independent technical evaluation of the company or assets being purchased is a key step of the due diligence process. Dr. Vacca has a decade-long experience with M&A, having provided technical opinions on technologies, products, and patent portfolios in a number of acquisitions and licensing deals.
In one particular case, the acquirer (a Fortune 500 diagnostics and life sciences company) asked Kinetic River to participate in due diligence on a small Chinese startup that had just launched an impressive new flow cytometry product. Dr. Vacca joined a task force of more than a dozen people traveling overseas to perform a “deep-dive” onsite evaluation of the product and its foundational technology, ultimately resulting in a successful acquisition. That technology has since become the backbone of the acquirer’s entire product roadmap.
Design Reviews
During the internal development of a product, an independent technical assessment provides the fresh perspective, and the possible red flags, that often come only from an exterior viewpoint. Kinetic River has produced such independent design reviews for more than a dozen products—ones under development, ones undergoing upgrades, and ones being contemplated for future launches.
Some of the product and technology design reviews carried out by Kinetic River include:
- optical excitation and detection (hematology analyzer)
- optical excitation, collection, detection (particle analyzer)
- optical propagation and system analysis (flow cytometer)
- flowcell – optical excitation integration (flow cytometer)
- nanoparticle detection (flow cytometer)
- label-free optical spectrometry (IVD analyzer)
- label-free optical spectrometry (handheld noninvasive analyzer)
- point-, line-, and imaging detection (cell analyzer)
- nonoptical cell imaging (hematology analyzer)
- optical module cost reduction (x-ray imager)
- microfluidic hydrodynamics (laboratory fluid controller)
- microfluidic chip-based interrogation (cell sorter)
- microfluidic chip-based fluorimetry (portable IVD device)
- microfluidic chip sorting for rare events (flow cytometer)
- light-tissue interaction (noninvasive vital sign monitor)
- lateral-flow immunoassay (LFIA) (fertility monitoring device)
Design & Prototyping
Whether you’re looking to build a compact diagnostic device or a large bench- or floor-top laboratory instrument, if light is involved, we can help. Kinetic River has assisted and augmented internal development teams with design and development tasks ranging from component redesign to whole-cloth instrument architecture and build. Some of the projects we have delivered include:
- design and build of flow cytometer optical modules
- flowcell assembly redesign and cost reduction
- architecture, design, and build of entire particle analyzers
(optics, fluidics, electronics, enclosure, user interface) - design of critical component alignment/assembly automation station
- design of optical metrology station for IR component characterization
Our process follows industry best practices: requirements definition, high-level design, prototyping, detailed design, test planning, component sourcing, assembly, and testing. We leverage both commercial engineering tools (such as AutoCAD, BeamWise, and Optica) and proprietary design tools (such our beam propagation analysis package LiveIdeas) to explore design options and optimize projected performance before any metal is cut. Kinetic River’s extensive experience in complex optical system design, and particularly flow cytometers, gives us a competitive edge against contract-engineering generalists, which translates in time and money savings for the client.