Industry Background In 1881, Robert Koch, one of the founding fathers of microbiology, first described a technique for isolating and examining bacterial colonies using pools of gelatine-based media on glass slides. His colleague, Richard Petri, improved the technique in 1887, when he replaced the glass slides with covered, round, glass dishes, now commonly known as Petri dishes. Over 120 years later, scientists today still use the technique of Koch and Petri to culture a bacterial sample. Today dishes are made of plastic, and referred to as plates. They are bought pre-poured, usually with agar, a seaweed-derived media gel. But the process of getting the sample onto the agar plate (also known as a pre-poured media or PPM plate) is much the same as the one Koch described. Bacterial culture from a patient sample is used in microbiology laboratories to diagnose a bacterial infection. The technique of Koch and Petri involves carefully streaking each patient sample (eg. blood, urine or biopsy suspension) onto an agar plate with a sterile wire or plastic applicator. An appropriate type of agar plate must be chosen by the operator, and labelled by hand with the appropriate identifying information. A skilled human operator can prepare about one plate every two minutes for the incubator. Once streaked with a patient’s sample, each agar plate is incubated at body temperature (37°C) with appropriate nutrients. Bacteria from the sample grow into colonies on the plate, allowing scientists to identify them and diagnose the patient’s disease, or test them for resistance to a range of antibiotics and so determine the best course of treatment. The slow and laborious process of plate streaking is costly in terms of time, space and human capital. It is repetitive and tedious work for highly qualified staff, distracting them from more value-added activities in relation to patient care. Worldwide, there is an increasing shortage of laboratory staff, making automated solutions highly sought-after in this industry.