Sep 3 2015
TESCAN, the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and Texas A&M University announced today that a Nanotechnology Collaboration Agreement has been signed between these organizations.
The model of engagement between TEES and TESCAN will streamline research initiatives into applications development and in turn drive an industrial outreach program, while strengthening educational opportunities at Texas A&M in nanoscience and nanotechnology. These initiatives will constitute high-level collaborations with strong interaction between Texas A&M researchers, industrial partners and TESCAN scientists. In support of the collaboration, TESCAN has completed installation of a TESCAN VEGA 3 SEM, MIRA 3 FE-SEM, LYRA 3 Gallium FIB-SEM Workstation and a FERA 3 Plasma FIB-SEM Workstation. These instruments will reside in the Texas A&M Microscopy and Imaging Center (MIC) and the new Frederick E. Giesecke Engineering Research Building, which houses the Texas A&M Aggie Fab Nanofabrication Facility (AggieFab) and Materials Characterization Facility (MCF).
Dr. Glen A. Laine, Texas A&M’s vice president for research, said, “This agreement advances the Texas A&M research enterprise in many significant ways and represents another example of collaboration between the university and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station that benefits both partners.”
“We are pleased to enter this research collaboration agreement with TESCAN, which initiates a long-term, mutually beneficial partnership,” said Dr. M. Katherine Banks, vice chancellor and dean of Texas A&M Engineering. “Partnering with industry leaders such as TESCAN enhances our ability to address the engineering challenges facing us today.”
TESCAN and the Texas A&M Nanofabrication and Visualization Laboratory (comprised of participating core facilities of the MCF, MIC and AggieFab Nanofabrication Facility) are planning events and workshops through an alliance that utilizes the special features and advancements these tools have to offer to the research and industry markets. Due to the proximity of the oil and gas industry, this alliance brings state-of-the-art instrumentation into the area of those involved in the oil and gas markets in Texas, opening the door to new research in these technologically challenging arenas.
Andreas Holzenburg, director of the Microscopy and Imaging Center, said, “We look forward to imaging across the scales to meet global challenges and enable state-of-the-art training to a new generation of problem solvers, including undergraduate and graduate students, with the help of TESCAN instrumentation.”
“This collaboration brings together the exceptional strengths of the nanoscience and nanotechnology communities at Texas A&M with state-of-the-art instrumentation from TESCAN, significantly enhancing the research infrastructure and educational mission of Texas A&M in these critical areas,” said James Batteas, director of the MCF.
"The integration of these four systems at the Texas A&M will foster areas of growth for both organizations,” said Tony Owens, general manager of TESCAN USA. “We look forward to collaborating with Texas A&M to further advance research and nanotechnology in Texas through various joint activities.”