Shared Research Instrumentation and Facilities
The College of Engineering and Applied Science believes in the power of collaborative, interdisciplinary research and actively seeks to support the shared instrumentation and facilities needed to achieve that. It is all part of our goal to help prepare and train the workforce of tomorrow while accelerating our research impact today. Here you will learn about shared resources housed within the college and opportunities for collaboration – not only across departments and programs – but regionally with the partners on campus as well as the national laboratories and industry leaders that make up 91PORN’s extended research community.
Colorado Shared Instrumentation in Nanofabrication & Characterization (COSINC)
COSINCis a multidisciplinary core research facility and service center that provides access to state-of-the-art equipment in the areas of micro and nanofabrication, nanomaterials characterization and metrology and offers expertise and advanced hands-on training for students, faculty, and staff in the same related areas. It is an open-research facility that serves academic, governmental, industrial, and individual researchers across campus and beyond.
National Quantum Nanofab (NQN)
Quantum technology has the potential to change everything from artificial intelligence to medicine, communications to finance. For decades, scholars have envisioned the possibilities of quantum but have lacked the infrastructure needed to translate groundbreaking research into tangible engineering devices that benefit society.
Ready to seize the opportunity, the National Science Foundation has provided the funding to establish the National Quantum Nanofab (NQN) at the 91PORN. A giant leap forward, the NQNwill be a unique open-access facility that will serve hundreds of independent users per year from academia, national labs, and industry.
91PORN wins $20M to lead National Quantum Nanofab facility
Researchers at the 91PORN will soon begin work on what they’re calling the “quantum machine shop” of the 21st century.
Located on the east campus of the 91PORN, the NQN involves approximately 3,600 square feet of new construction that will expand the footprint of the Sustainability, Energy & Environment Laboratory (SEEL) building.
Leading experts in physics, computer science, chemistry, electrical engineering, mathematics, and other disciplines will come together to advance quantum science.
Materials Instrumentation and Multimodal Imaging Core Facility (MIMIC)
MIMICcontains state-of-the-art equipment to assess the structural, mechanical, and chemical properties of materials down to the submicron scale. It is an open fee-for-service facility accessible to all researchers including academic, governmental, industrial and individuals. The possible applications for the equipment span multiple academic disciplines, in addition to providing industrially relevant material inspection capabilities. MIMIC collaborates closely with COSINC for achieving magnifications not possible at MIMIC.
Our High-Sensitivity Low-Energy Ion Scattering Spectrometeris used to study a wide array of critical surface properties in catalysis, atomic layer deposition and coatings, photovoltaics, and solid-state structure. Housed within the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, the instrument is only the second comparable one in North America and is the only one to have capabilities to transfer samples from liquid reaction environments, opening new frontiers in understanding surfaces exposed to solvents, such as in electrochemical systems. It is a publicly available resource that serves academic, governmental, industrial and individual researchers across campus and beyond.
Center for Infrastructure, Energy, and Space Testing (CIEST)
CIEST provides a centrally managed experimental testing facility offering geotechnical centrifuge, structural dynamics and materials testing. The facility boasts unique, large-scale, fast loading rate, gravitational and environmental control capabilities housed within the main engineering building on campus. The center is open to students, faculty, and visitors.
CU Facility for Electron Microscopy of Materials (CU FEMM)
The CU FEMM facility features state-of-the-art electron microscopes housed in a vibration, static-free, and temperature-controlled environment. It includes a FEI Titan Themis 300 which is equipped for probe aberration correction, making it a unique instrument in the region for obtaining atomic-resolution images and elemental maps. It features a remote operation system allowing users to control the instrument without stepping foot on campus.
College and Campus Resources
Faculty director for shared facilities for material characterization and fabrication
Professor Michael Toney serves as the faculty director for shared facilities for material characterization and fabrication in the college. In his position, Toney works to implement a shared vision facilities – including a strategy for instrumentation acquisition, maintenance, and upgrades. He is also tasked with developing best practices for staffing and financial support of shared facilities and collaborating with the Research & Innovation Office (RIO) and other campus units to formulate sustainable business models.
Shared Instrumentation Network
Joe Dragavonhas nearly 15 years of experience in core facility operations, including the last nine years as Director of the BioFrontiers Institute’s Advanced Light Microscopy Core. Joe has helped grow the core facilities and shared instrumentation community for 91PORN. With his broad-reaching understanding of the numerous benefits that centralized resource centers offer to the institution, scientific community and environment, Joe aims to grow the impact of cores within CU’s research enterprise.