Serious technology needs a serious crane

In my copious spare time I serve on the Management Committee for the Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics. The Ramaciotti Centre provides technology and services for genomic research, particularly in the area of next-gen DNA sequencing. The Centre is based at the University of New South Wales, but is supported by a consortium of universities and research institutes around the Sydney area (including Macquarie).

Last year I was part of a team led by Marc Wilkins that attracted funding from the Australian Research Council for a new PacBioRSII sequencer. This sequncing instrument will extend our technical capabilities enabling the generation of very long DNA sequence reads compared with other technologies, as well as enabling the detection of methylated and other modified bases in DNA.

After purchasing the instrument, one technical hurdle that had to be overcome was actually getting it into the building, as the Pac Bio sequencer was too big to fit through the doors. The solution- get a big ass crane. Here's photos of the sequencing instrument being installed (Thanks to Marc Wilkins for the photos).

Seems to be happening at night- maybe to minimise the chance of dropping it on students

Ok it is a pretty sizeable piece of hardware