SLAS Europe 2026: Trince takes top ignite award as Vienna conference draws 1,500-plus registrants
The Society of Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) held its 2026 Europe Conference and Exhibition in Vienna, Austria, from 19 to 21 May, welcoming more than 1,500 registrants from over 30 countries alongside 137 exhibitors. The event had originally been planned for spring 2020 before being postponed.
“It was great to finally get this one off the ground,” said Vicki Loise, Chief Executive Officer of SLAS. “The exhibition was buzzing with active visitors exploring new laboratory automation technologies and services.”
Ignite award recognises intracellular delivery platform
The conference’s Innovation AveNEW area, which provides up to 12 startup companies with access to new customers and the opportunity to compete for the Ignite Award and €5,000, was won this year by Trince for its LumiPore™ photoporation platform. Judges noted that Trince presented a clear go-to-market strategy, with LumiPore™ offering an alternative intracellular delivery technology for both research and clinical use, addressing what has traditionally been a time-consuming technical process.
Three new product awards presented
SLAS presented three New Product Awards to exhibitors. Bionomous received recognition for its Sortivo technology, a large-particle sorter designed to bridge the gap between New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) and high-throughput screening. Judges described Sortivo as a whole workflow integrated into a single product, with particular relevance to next-generation particle sorting applications in the laboratory setting.
Cube Biotech was recognised for PlateX MP™ Strep-Tactin®XT MagBeads, a product enabling automated membrane protein purification from lysate to analytical-grade samples in approximately two hours. Judges highlighted that the innovation extended beyond the scientific concept itself to en-compass full workflow integration within a consumable format, reducing errors associated with cold-room working and improving yield for membrane proteins. The third award went to nNano AG for CERTUS RIVO, a contactless 16-channel dispensing system capable of high-precision, low-volume liquid handling across the nanoliter to microliter range. Judges noted that nNano had reimagined an existing product to better reflect user needs, with improvements to channel capacity, reagent recovery, precision and speed.
Student poster award
Niall McIntyre of Imperial College London received the Student Poster Award and €500 for his work titled “Manufacturing a High-Throughput, Label-Free Platform for Rapid Screening of Drug Permeation Across in vitro Plasma Membrane Models.” The judging panel noted his clear research trajectory towards an established tool in the drug discovery process, as well as the quality of his presentation and his handling of challenging questions. Next year’s SLAS Europe conference is scheduled for Hamburg, Germany, from 25 to 27 May 2027.
