For-profit businesses committed to open source hardware are still a rarity in scientific instrumentation. Sanworks product designs are freely available, and legally protected by GPL version 3 and/or OSHW version 1. We support these systems publically through our online forums, with the help of a growing user community. Sanworks profits from online sales when for peace of mind, researchers prefer to purchase an open source instrument that was professionally assembled and tested. We also profit from the need to customize our systems, by offering consulting services. The open model does not exclude our most financially constrained customers, who choose to self-assemble our products, and contribute value to Sanworks as part of our social user base. We anticipate that with streamlined availability, the advantages of open source research instruments will be greatly valued by the global bioscience research community.

Josh Sanders developed his initial open research instruments while completing his PhD in Kepecs Lab at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. As Sanworks founder and lead engineer, he continues to be a passionate scientific tool developer, and has structured Sanworks to reduce some of the financial and technological bottlenecks that impede research in Neuroscience. Joshua’s academic research experience in Kepecs, Kvitsiani and Mainen labs provides Sanworks with in-house expertise in behavioral neuroscience, electrophysiology and computational modeling of scientific data.