“It gave us a framework for organizing our entire department. It’s a unifying, transformative platform.”
Before Calira, booking equipment in Stanford’s Department of Pediatrics was, in John’s words, “absolute chaos.” Lab teams relied on fake Yahoo and Google accounts, outdated Outlook calendars, and no central point of control or visibility. This caused several core problems:
“We had people arriving to use a qPCR machine and find it was already running; you’ve got your plate, and you’re in a panic. This was frequent.”
Even the university’s official core facility system, Agilent iLab, wasn’t viable to be adapted for their departmental use: “As a user, I found [Agilent iLab] incomprehensible. I couldn’t imagine trying to be an administrator of it.”
With 51 independent labs spread across five buildings, managing equipment access, visibility, and conflicts within the Department of Pediatrics was a time-consuming, manual challenge.
Having previously heard about Calira during the pandemic, John secured buy-in and investment to begin rolling out the system in early 2024, one building at a time:
“We had no system. Calira created one.”
Key uses today:
“I use it every day. Tasks that would have needed multiple different Excel sheets now takes seconds.” Lab Manager, Department of Pediatrics
Before Calira, researchers didn’t know what equipment existed outside their own building. Now they can instantly search and reserve shared instruments across campus.
“People didn’t even know we had labs in some of these other buildings. Now they can see and book in seconds.”
When an instrument breaks or needs servicing, the department lab manager reserves the time slot and notifies users directly.
“I can just book it out of the calendar, send the message through Calira to say the instrument is out because it's being serviced. So it's a really easy way to communicate with all our users.”
Flow cytometers are highly used and highly regulated. Access requires signed user agreements and admin vetting.
“We instituted a very strict user agreement … that has worked out really well.”
The department regularly shares its instruments with outside labs. To ensure fairness, the department lab manager uses Calira data to calculate contributions based on hours used.
“We believe in sharing resources, but it shouldn’t be a burden to our department.”
Each Calira equipment entry includes SOPs, user agreements, YouTube guides, and serial numbers in a single place.
“It’s not just a booking tool. It’s our database. Instead of looking through folders on my computer, I go to Calira. It knows where everything is.”
Researchers now scan a QR code, check availability, and book in seconds. If something’s unavailable, they know instantly.
“Our users have been really happy. I haven’t had any complaints.”
With hundreds of researchers, multiple sites, and shared assets under constant use, the Department of Pediatrics needed more than just a booking tool.
“It gave us a framework for organizing our entire department. It’s a unifying, transformative platform.”
If your team is juggling spreadsheets, struggling with equipment visibility, or simply tired of scheduling headaches, Calira might be the quiet fix you’ve been looking for. Let’s talk about how we can help your lab run more smoothly, with less admin and more clarity.
