Veeco Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq: VECO), the leading provider of scanning probe microscopes (SPM) to the nanoscience community, today announced the winners of the first phase of the Veeco Labs Research Grant Program, "HarmoniX Innovation," as well as the initiation of its second phase, "SPM in Energy."
Veeco Labs is a competitive grant program that was created to facilitate collaboration between Veeco and the leading scientists in the SPM community. The first phase of Veeco Labs solicited the best ideas for research and development in various areas of nano- and bio-material development using Veeco's new full-spectrum HarmoniXTM Nanoscale Material Property Mapping technique. The proposals were reviewed by a panel of Veeco scientists based on a broad range of technical criteria.
The winning recipients of the full-spectrum HarmoniX Microscopy package represented four countries and a wide variety of applications, and five of the grant recipients also won sponsorship to participate in the Seeing at the Nanoscale VII conference:
- Liz Adams and Kirk Czymmek (University of Delaware, USA) - "Characterization of the Fungal Cell Wall Structure Using HarmoniX AFM"
- Zbigniew Celinski and Anatoliy Glushchenko (University of Colorado, USA) - "Mapping the Aligning Forces Acting on Liquid Crystals on an Inorganic Substrate"
- Sidney Cohen and David Cahen (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel) - "Molecular-Level Mechanics of Self-Assembled Monolayer Films Containing the Azo-Benzene Group and Their Applications in Molecular Motors"
- S. De Beer, Dirk van den Ende, Frieder Mugele, Bram Borkent and Detlef Lohse (University of Twente, Netherlands) - "HarmoniX for Nanofluidics"
- Philippe LeClere (University of Mons-Hainaut, Belgium) - "Biomimetic Surfaces: Adhesives for the Future"
- George Schitter (Delft University of Technology, Netherlands) - "Optimizing the Speed of TappingMode AFM by HarmoniX-Based Feedback"
- Igor Sokolov (Clarkson University, USA) - "Study of Local Rigidity Distributions on Human Cells: 'Sick' versus Normal Cells"
- Andreea Trache (Texas A&M University, USA) - "Measurements of Cytoskeletal Stiffness Dynamics in Live Cells Using HarmoniX Mapping Module"
- G. Julius Vancso and Holger Schönherr (University of Twente, Netherlands) - "Chemically Sensitive Probing with HarmoniX"
David Rossi, Vice President, General Manager of Veeco's AFM Business, commented, "We would like to thank all of the applicants and congratulate the winners. Veeco's foundation in AFM is rooted in science and technical partnership with leading researchers, and we strive to deliver instruments that enable scientific advancement. The community's response to Veeco Labs has been overwhelming with our new HarmoniX material mapping mode stimulating many exciting ideas for scientific discovery. We are excited to announce the next phase of the Veeco Labs Research Grant Program: SPM in Energy."
This second solicitation is for concept development and validation of SPM advances in energy generation, storage, or conservation. Grant winners will receive a $50,000 equipment stipend for nano-electronic application modules for their Veeco Dimension®, MultiMode®, or Innova™ SPMs. The full Request for Proposals can be found at www.veeco.com/veeco-labs.
"We believe that SPM and nanotechnology research will be a driving force behind advancements in energy, which are fundamental to the future of our economy and our environment," said Stephen Minne, Ph.D., Senior Director of Veeco AFM Product Management. "The launch of the second phase of Veeco Labs, SPM in Energy, will provide seed grants to help our customers accelerate their research in this vitally important area."