It’s been a most difficult year 2020 which forced us academics to quickly adapt or even reinvent our teaching methods in the light of the constantly changing circumstances of the pandemic. Some things have changed for the better, and maybe the big class lecture will become a thing of the past. But practical skills are difficult to learn remotely, and challenging to deliver with social distancing. In the recently refurbished, well-equipped and spacious Houston Lab, we were able to deliver the membrane filtration practical in Buffer Week in November to small cohorts of students. Many thanks to the technical team for setting up, decommissioning, and disinfecting all of the set-ups between each practical.