Author: Sue Hill

Sue Hill is the Digital Content Manager for the College of Engineering.

Liz Miller’s schedule

Liz Miller will be out of town for 6 weeks beginning next week. Aleister and I will try to pick up the work she was doing during her absence. One area that he and I cannot assume is EBSD. We have asked someone to help us with that but the response will be slowed. So, plan your EBSD work ahead of time – don’t wait until the last minute or your work will be delayed.

Liz will return to work on April 6th.

Analytical Electron Microscopy at Nanoscale Feb. 13

Pinaki Mukherjee
Pinaki Mukherjee

ME-EM Graduate Seminar Speaker Series

proudly presents:

Pinaki Mukherjee, PhD

Michigan Technological University

Abstract: This talk presents an overview of state-of-the-art capabilities of the aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope (ac-STEM) at ACMAL, Michigan Tech. The FEI Titan Themis microscope we have here is one of a kind in the whole nation in terms of capabilities. These capabilities have been developed in last two years and most of them are already available for users. We have a wide range of imaging and spectroscopic techniques that enables a user to identify elements at atomic scale (~ 0.1 nm). READ MORE

Thursday, February 13 at 4:00 p.m.

Electrical Energy Resources Center (EERC), 103
1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931

Annual Steam Shutdown and Power Outage

The annual steam shutdown will take place during the week following spring commencement—Sunday, May 3 – Friday, May 8 (weather permitting). This outage is required to provide maintenance and service of the boilers and steam distribution system on campus. This planned maintenance improves the reliability of our system and reduces the likelihood of an unplanned failure during the winter heating season.

There will not be heat or hot water in the affected buildings during the steam shutdown. There will be no distilled water available from the steam-driven stills. Steam-driven autoclaves/sterilizers will not be operational. 

The buildings affected will include:

  • Administration Building
  • ROTC Building
  • Academic Offices Building
  • Annex Building
  • Electrical Energy Resources
  • DOW Envir Sciences & Eng Bldg
  • Rozsa Performing Arts & Educ
  • Walker – Arts & Humanities
  • Minerals & Materials Engr Bldg
  • Grover C. Dillman Hall
  • Fisher Hall
  • J.R. Van Pelt Library
  • U.J. Noblet Forestry Building
  • Chemical Sciences & Engr Building
  • R.L. Smith (MEEM) Building
  • Student Development Complex
  • Kanwal and Ann Rekhi Hall
  • Douglass Houghton Hall
  • Memorial Union Building
  • Wadsworth Hall
  • McNair Hall
  • Central Heating Plant
  • Facilities Management
  • Hillside Place
  • Great Lakes Research Center

Facilities Management has developed a five-year rotating plan to service the 12,470-volt switchgear and associated breakers on campus. Our campus electrical distribution system depends on this gear being in good working condition. This work requires a two-night power outage that affects the least number of buildings possible. Please note that in most cases elevators, fume hoods, exhaust fans, ventilation equipment, normal lighting, plug-in appliances, and plug-in equipment will not operate during the outage.

Only items connected to the building emergency generator will have power during the outage; the building emergency generators and battery systems that supply power to emergency/egress lighting and special equipment should function as normal. If you are unsure if your equipment connects to the building emergency generator, please contact the Facilities Management Building Mechanic for your building.

Information Technology will turn off all network equipment in the affected buildings for these outages starting at 5 p.m. You should plan to save any work and shut down your computer systems and exit buildings before the outages. Additionally, some buildings with power will be without phone or internet service. Only the buildings listed will have their power shut off during the scheduled outages.

There will be two power outages.

Power Outage One: Begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 6 until 6 a.m. Thursday, May 7.

Power Outage Two: Begins at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 7 until 6 a.m. Friday, May 8.

Building affected will include:

  • Rekhi
  • Dillman
  • Fisher
  • Hamar House / CDI
  • Forestry
  • M&M 
  • ME-EM
  • ROTC
  • Academic Office Building
  • Alumni House
  • Annex

Buildings with power but no phone or internet:

  • Gates Tennis Center
  • Little Huskies
  • US Forest Service Labs
  • EMS/SLS Garage

You can find more details and updates on the Facilities Management website. If there are questions or concerns with this plan, contact Energy Management or Facilities Management at 7-2303.

By Energy Management and Facilities Management.

Spring 2020 Course in Surface and Interface Science

Lattice and micrograph representing course material.

Surface and Interface Science CH5665/MSE5665

(3 credits)
WF 1-2 p.m., M 1-3 p.m. (lab and analysis)

Learn To

  • Understand the physical and chemical processes that influence surface chemistry and growth
  • Apply surface science techniques to solve materials problems
  • Proper data analysis and interpretation
  • Design a project and solve a proposed hypothesis using surface analysis
  • Surface analysis methods: spectroscopy and microscopy techniques
  • XPS, AES, surface sensitive-FTIR, HREELS, Raman, surface structure (LEED), TPD, AFM and ambient pressure techniques
  • Applications in materials science, chemistry, physics, engineering, environmental science, catalysis, semiconductors and related tech industries

Contact Instructor Dr. Kathryn A. Perrine

Recent Advances in ACMAL STEM Facility October 22

Pinaki Mukherjee
Pinaki Mukherjee

Materials Science and Engineering Seminar

Dr. Pinaki Mukherjee

Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Michigan Technological University

Abstract: This talk presents an overview of state-of-the-art capabilities of the aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope (ac-STEM) at ACMAL, Michigan Tech. The FEI Titan Themis microscope we have here is one of a kind in the whole nation in terms of capabilities.

 Tuesday, October 22 at 11:00 am to 12:00 pm

 Minerals and Materials Engineering Building (M&M), 610
1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931

FESEM and FIB Used in Area-selective Atomic Layer Deposition Research

Surface Science cover for volume 690 December 2019.
Raman confocal images of Al2O3 make the cover of Surface Science.

Graduate students Mikhail Trought (Chemistry) and Chathura de Alwis (Chemistry), with undergraduate student alumnus Isobel Wentworth (ChemEng), research assistant professor Timothy R. Leftwich (MSE), and assistant professor Kathryn A. Perrine (Chemistry) published a paper titled “Influence of surface etching and oxidation on the morphological growth of Al2O3 by ALD” in Surface Science on August 9, 2019.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.susc.2019.121479

The authors acknowledge the Applied Chemical & Morphological Analysis Laboratory (ACMAL) at Michigan Technological University for use of instruments and staff assistance, including Director Owen Mills, for training on the FESEM and FIB.

M. Trought and K. Perrine prepared the samples at Michigan Tech and at the Univ. of Minnesota, performed the surface analysis, analyzed all data collected, and wrote the manuscript. T. Leftwich assisted with the XPS data collection and analysis, and reviewing & editing the manuscript. I. Wentworth and C. de Alwis assisted with sample preparation and FTIR analysis. K. Perrine conceptualized the project.

ACMAL Works with Students on SEM Video Solution

Students by the SEMBlue Marble Security, born out of the Michigan Tech Enterprise program, is a virtual company comprised of American and international undergraduate students focused on securing the future through thoughtful use of technology.

The project Paul Sanders proposed to Glen Archer was straightforward enough — make something old new again. Sanders came upon the challenge through a former colleague at Ford Motor Company, James Boileau.

The company’s goal was to replace the CRT monitors with off-the-shelf LED displays, similar to what you would find in most office computers.

The students were given access to Tech’s JEOL 6400. In addition, Owen Mills, senior research engineer and director of the Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, provided printed schematics, operations and maintenance manuals. The search for a place to tap the video signals required the visual inspection and search of hundreds of pages of printed schematics. Finally Blue Marble found what they were looking for — a low-voltage signal in an early video display protocol pioneered by IBM called monochrome display adapter (MDA).

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Mark Wilcox.

Award Winning Adhesives Researcher Credits ACMAL Expertise

Micrograph of micropillar array
Adhesive-coated pillars made using a a silicon template provided by Microfabrication Facility Managing Director Chito Kendrick. The morphology was visualized using the ACMAL E-SEM with the help of Lab Supervisor Jerry Anzalone.

The Bhakta Rath Research Award honors a graduate student and faculty mentor for in-depth work with social impact. The 2019 winners are two biomedical engineers with a sticky past.

A smart adhesive doesn’t adhere all the time. In 2015, when Ameya Narkar started his doctoral research with Bruce Lee, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Michigan Technological University, the two turned to biological sources for a glue that could be turned on and off.

Q: How have your methods helped make the project successful?

Ameya Narkar: Our biomedical engineering department is full of approachable experts. It’s a small team and an effective one. I could walk down to a faculty member’s office and ask for advice when our project branched into areas beyond our lab’s expertise. Plus, I was able to work closely with the people in the Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory and the microfabrication facility. Collaboration is essential to successful research.

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Allison Mills.