New procedures are now in place to help keep everyone safe and to ensure gowns are available. All users must follow these steps for booking gowning area space and indicating locker usage.
What is the logic here?
Users will not share cleanroom gowns (hood or suit). We want to avoid your gowns being frequently touched by other users or being stored in a confined space with other gowns. Thus, we will space gowns apart (Fab-12), and will not share lockers (Fab-39). We send garments out for laundry weekly (Monday morning), and disinfect the lockers in Fab-39 so that a new user can safely use it.
Our goal is to manage the capacity in the gowning areas (to avoid capacity limitations), keep track of locker states (ready for use / in use / needs cleaning), and avoid gowning shortages (from excessive single‐use). Meeting these goals is strongly dependent on the help of our users to be both efficient and considerate.
Step 1: Indicate which week(s) you will be in the lab using nanotime.mit.edu
In nanotime.mit.edu indicate which weeks you will use a specific lab (Fab‐12, Fab‐39 ICL, Fab‐39 TRL, Fab‐39 EML). This helps us manage and predict capacity of each gowning area. Be considerate, and don’t reserve multiple weeks out when you have no clear plan for what you’ll be doing. For each booking you make, you should be able to explain what your plan is in the lab. When you book an area, the optional “notes” field helps you keep track of your plans. You can also review your bookings across all lab spaces.
The system displays bookings for the entire week (M‐F). Even if you’re only in the lab on two or three days you’ll reserve the full week, because lockers get disinfected Monday mornings. After a locker is used, it will be “spent” until the next Monday.
Step 2: Actually going to the lab—CORAL lockers
The nanotime scheduler indicates that you’re going into the lab for a specific week. When it’s time to set foot into the lab, you will use CORAL to pick a specific locker or hanger.
- Each week, on the first day you go to the lab, look at CORAL and pick an available locker (under Fab.nano / Lockers / [Lab Area]). Engage that locker. Now it’s yours for the rest of the week.
- If you’re entering Fab‐39, in the gowning area, remove the green tape from the locker (it tells us that the locker was previously unused) and write your name on it. Please use the same locker number that corresponds to the CORAL locker you engaged.
- In Fab‐12, use the number written on the hanger that corresponds to the CORAL locker you engaged.
- When you’re done using the lab for the day (or even the week), put your gown back into the locker (Fab‐39), or the hanger (Fab‐12). Make sure it is labeled with your name: using tape (Fab‐39) or your nametag (Fab‐12).
Important reminders:
- Don’t disengage the locker.
- Don’t put your gowns into the hamper.