May 2 2010
Minister for Labour Affairs, and Public Service Transformation, Mr Dara Calleary, TD, yesterday opened CRANN's €12 Advanced Microscopy Laboratory (AML). The AML is a world class nanoscience research, which features some of the world's most advanced microscopes allowing material to be viewed at the atomic scale. It will allow Ireland to compete globally to win new research funding and foreign direct investment that previously would have been beyond our capability.
Minister Dara Calleary pictured with Dr Despina Bazou, CRANN researcher
Minister Dara Calleary said at the opening that the CRANN AML "is an excellent example of how Ireland's smart economy is enabled through high quality research programmes, state-of-the-art infrastructure and highly trained, technically skilled personnel". Industry workshops on the morning of the opening featured case studies presented by a selection of CRANN's industry partners, including Intel, HP, Cellix, SolarPrint, Boston Scientific, Eblana Photonics and Millipore. CRANN works with 30 industry partners. Prof John Boland, Director of CRANN said that "this focus on collaboration with industry is critical to deriving value from this investment and we look forward to using it as a magnet both to attract FDI as well as supporting indigenous companies who are developing new products for global export.”
The CRANN AML was jointly funded by the HEA and SFI. It comprises a custom refurbished, state of the art 6,000 square foot facility in the Trinity Technology and Enterprise Campus. Key instrumentation in the AML include the Helium Ion Microscope (HIM), the Scanning Electron Microscopes and the Focused Ion Beam. The HIM allows the highest resolution surface imaging of bulk materials from a scanning microscope and is the only such tool installed in Ireland and one of only a dozen in the world.