Solutions for Industry
The staff at the Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis (ACMM) have a great deal of expertise, all of which is available to clients from industry. This expertise, in combination with our advanced microscopy platforms, means that we can offer a range of services from simple testing to long-term contract and leveraged research programs.
Analytical services include chemical and elemental microanalysis using EDS and XRD, failure analysis, nanomachining and specimen preparation, SEM, TEM and optical microscopy imaging services. We also offer micro- and nano-CT imaging for non-destructive, 3-D X-ray analysis for a wide variety of small objects and live-cell imaging for understanding complex cellular processes.
We encourage businesses and industry to access the ACMM and the main forms of industry interaction that we undertake are listed here.
- Direct use of ACMM instruments by industry users – as an industry user you can enter the user experience in the same way as other researchers do. You will be trained and provided with access privileges in-line with your level of competency. We charge commercial rates for these services.
- Testing or consultancy services – the diversity of our expertise is considerable and there is likely to be an expert to help you with anything from failure analysis to the identification of an unexpected contaminant. Our academic staff can be contracted for consulting and expert-witness services to provide you with interpretation and analysis of data. We charge commercial rates for these services.
- Training – we offer our training courses and programs to industry and academic users alike. Participation in these courses builds in-house competency for your company or it can enable your staff to access our instruments.
- Contract R&D projects – you can engage our expert staff to carry out research for you. As the industry partner, your company will fund the costs of research including beam time fees, consumables and salary for research staff or student scholarships.
- Leveraged R&D projects – these partnerships include ARC Linkage projects and can involve multiple collaborative partners. Linkage projects provide an ideal way for your company to access our full range of academic and technical expertise and attract significant financial contribution from the ARC. Such projects provide long-term alliances to solve your major research questions.
Our current fields of research expertise include: advanced materials design, nanomaterials and spintronics, metallurgy and alloy development, characterisation of minerals and biological structures; cancer cell biology and correlative microscopy techniques.
Rates for industry (exclusive of GST):
$320/hr for instruments alone
$180/hr for operator
We would be very happy to discuss your requirements. Please contact our Marketing & Business Development Manager , ph. 02 9114 0566.
All services conducted by the ACMM require a Testing Services or User Agreement with the University of Sydney.
The TechVouchers Scheme
Building NSW Business Through Research Collaboration
The TechVouchers scheme has been established by the NSW Department of Industry and Investment to encourage engagement between small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and public-sector research organisations.
Vouchers are available to SMEs to enable testing services, research and development, or consultation. A complimentary part of the scheme is the funding of a position (called a Connector) to sit within the ACMM to help these engagements to happen and to promote the services that we offer to industry clients.
If you have any queries about the scheme or know of SMEs that could benefit from it, please contact our Marketing & Business Development Manager , ph. 02 9114 0566.
See also the NSW Department of Industry and Investment TechVouchers website.