diff --git a/src/main/java/InteractiveInterface.java b/src/main/java/InteractiveInterface.java
index b4bf965..0de7a8e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/InteractiveInterface.java
+++ b/src/main/java/InteractiveInterface.java
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ public class InteractiveInterface {
         else {
             System.out.println("Reading Sample Plate file: " + plateFile);
             PlateFileReader plateReader = new PlateFileReader(plateFile);
-            plate = new Plate(plateReader.getFilename(), plateReader.getWells());
+            plate = plateReader.getSamplePlate();
             if(BiGpairSEQ.cachePlate()) {
                 BiGpairSEQ.setPlateInMemory(plate, plateFile);
             }
diff --git a/src/main/java/Plate.java b/src/main/java/Plate.java
index af37ac0..d0bc1aa 100644
--- a/src/main/java/Plate.java
+++ b/src/main/java/Plate.java
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import java.util.*;
 public class Plate {
     private CellSample cells;
     private String sourceFile;
+    private String filename;
     private List<List<Integer[]>> wells;
     private final Random rand = BiGpairSEQ.getRand();
     private int size;
@@ -45,8 +46,9 @@ public class Plate {
         wells = new ArrayList<>();
     }
 
-    public Plate(String sourceFileName, List<List<Integer[]>> wells) {
-        this.sourceFile = sourceFileName;
+    //constructor for returning a Plate from a PlateFileReader
+    public Plate(String filename, List<List<Integer[]>> wells) {
+        this.filename = filename;
         this.wells = wells;
         this.size = wells.size();
 
@@ -176,4 +178,6 @@ public class Plate {
     public String getSourceFileName() {
         return sourceFile;
     }
+
+    public String getFilename() { return filename; }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/PlateFileReader.java b/src/main/java/PlateFileReader.java
index 7b95cee..27e98b0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/PlateFileReader.java
+++ b/src/main/java/PlateFileReader.java
@@ -56,11 +56,8 @@ public class PlateFileReader {
 
     }
 
-    public List<List<Integer[]>> getWells() {
-        return wells;
+    public Plate getSamplePlate() {
+        return new Plate(filename, wells);
     }
 
-    public String getFilename() {
-        return filename;
-    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/java/Simulator.java b/src/main/java/Simulator.java
index 6d3f6eb..0cc6df1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/Simulator.java
+++ b/src/main/java/Simulator.java
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ public class Simulator implements GraphModificationFunctions {
                 distCellsMapAlphaKey, plateVtoAMap, plateVtoBMap, plateAtoVMap,
                 plateBtoVMap, alphaWellCounts, betaWellCounts, time);
         //Set source file name in graph to name of sample plate
-        output.setSourceFilename(samplePlate.getSourceFileName());
+        output.setSourceFilename(samplePlate.getFilename());
         //return GraphWithMapData object
         return output;
     }