An afternoon with the microscopy suite and two groups who are tired of being asked whether graphene is 'still a thing'.
Industrial visitors welcome. Wear shoes you can stand in.
The tour goes through sample preparation before it goes anywhere near an instrument, which is the correct order and surprises people. The dominant source of variance in most microscopy is the specimen, not the microscope, and half an hour watching a technician prepare a cross-section explains more than any amount of specification comparison.
The two research groups presenting have been asked to talk about what their materials cannot do, and have agreed with more enthusiasm than we expected. There will be failure photographs.
Online attendees get the presentations and a walkthrough of the suite. They do not get the smell of the polishing laboratory, which is genuinely part of the education.
Running order
Approximate, and kept to.
- 13:30Arrival and safety briefing — genuinely required, mercifully short
- 14:00Sample preparation laboratory: where the variance actually lives
- 14:45Microscopy suite tour, in two groups
- 15:45Two research groups on what their materials cannot do
- 16:30Discussion, then close
Who this is for
- Manufacturers with a failure investigation or a coating question
- Anyone about to commission characterisation work and unsure what to ask for
- Firms considering a 2D material and wanting an unsentimental view
- Asset owners with samples and a remaining-life question