Speaker Background

Thank you to Abdul and Gary for taking the time next Thursday to tell us how electron microscopy has made a positive difference to their companies, both based in Plymouth:

 Gary Hughes – Barden Corporation (UK) Ltd

Gary joined Barden, a world leader in the design and manufacture of super precision ball bearings, as a Technician Engineer in 1996 after studying Mechanical Engineering at Loughborough University. Initially, he provided support to the Engineering teams (reports, calculation, examinations, drawings) before progressing through the department in various roles (Design & Development Engineer, Product Engineer, Senior Engineer) before being appointed as the Product Engineering Manager in 2011 where he manages a team of 14 engineers, including product design engineers and application engineers.

The company has used the EMC for almost 20 years; initially when Barden started developing their super-finishing techniques and standard optical microscopy just didn’t provide sufficient magnification or resolution to understand how the surface finish of their products could be influenced.

As well as surface finish, Barden has increasingly used the EMC for other analysis, including failure analysis of bearings (either from the field or those in production); examination of grain micro-structure; identification of elements associated with known contaminants; distinguishing between coatings and their substrates.

Abdul Saeid – Fine Tubes Ltd

Abdul joined Fine Tubes Ltd, a global metal tubing manufacturer, in January 2013 as a Process Engineer. Prior to this, he was a researcher at the National Centre for Industrial Microwave Processing (NCIMP) at the University of Nottingham where he also completed his PhD in February 2012.

Having made the jump from academia to industry, he has appreciated the benefits of analytical tools, such as SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and EDAX, from different perspectives. During his doctorate in Chemical Engineering he was involved in characterising the mineralogy of oil sand and oil shale deposits. He then worked as a Research Associate developing novel techniques for processing contaminated North Sea oil drill cuttings using SEM to determine the micro-structure of varying feed stocks.

Whilst at Fine Tubes, use of SEM technology has been primarily for assisting in root cause analysis, assessing properties of raw materials and as part of studies into developing new production techniques. It is hoped that future use of SEM will allow Fine Tubes to enhance production efficiency and generate new lines for production.

To register for next Thursday's breakfast, please go to:

www.surveymonkey.com/s/EMC_workshop_3rdApril

Or feel free to contact Claire Pearce for more details about the event, the free support we can offer to eligible businesses and the EMC in general:
- 01752 588908
- 07738 858494
- claire.pearce@plymouth.ac.uk

Boost Your Bottom Line - Industrial Solutions Breakfast - Thursday 3 April 2014

Due to popular demand following our January breakfast, we are pleased to confirm the speakers for our third free Industrial Solutions Breakfast, aimed particularly at manufacturers, precision and electrical engineers, on Thursday 3 April at Plymouth University, part-funded by ERDF - to demonstrate the relevance of electron microscopy to industry.

- Gary Hughes, The Barden Corporation (UK) Ltd

- Abdul Saeid, Fine Tubes Ltd

Starting at 08.00 with breakfast and networking, Gary and Abdul will talk about how using electron microscopy in their respective companies has aided the bottom line; giving practical examples of how this technology can help to solve real issues that they face, from quality control through to new product development, using high-magnification images and in-depth materials analysis, to name but two approaches.

Delegates will then have the opportunity to look around the University's facilities, including the Electron Microscopy Centre (EMC) and find out how they can use this for free during 2014, if they are an eligible SME.

If you're new to the EMC, you're also welcome to bring along a sample for analysis - just tick the relevant box when you register for the event:
www.surveymonkey.com/s/EMC_workshop_3rdApril

Or feel free to contact Claire Pearce for more details about the event, the free support we can offer to eligible businesses or the EMC in general:
- 01752 588908
- 07738 858494
- claire.pearce@plymouth.ac.uk

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who attended last week's second Industrial Solutions Breakfast at Plymouth University. Prior to our keynote speakers taking the floor, there was the pleasant buzz of introductions and conversation throughout our conference suite in the Rolle Building; the mark of a useful event.

James Strongman of PetroLab described the growth of this small Cornish business over the last 10 years, culminating in the development of a new service, using electron microscopy. He demonstrated how having access to the EMC at Plymouth University, using a KTP, has enabled his company to investigate this potential new service and make it a development reality.

Keith Taylor of Oxford Instruments gave the delegates an insight into the state-of-the-art equipment currently in use, and available for use by small companies in the south-west, at Plymouth University.

Following our two speakers, the delegates were given a tour of the EMC, to see in practice how electron microscopy can solve some of the issues facing those in the geology, mining and recycling industries. The two delegates who brought samples for analysis were also able to discuss their particular requirements in detail.

The next Industrial Solutions breakfast is scheduled for Thursday 3 April - more details to follow...,

Speaker details for Tuesday 18 February 2014 - have you booked your place yet?

We are pleased to give you our two keynote speakers' biographies for the next Industrial Solutions Breakfast on Tuesday 18 February at 08.00; we do hope that you can join us to find out just how useful electron microscopy has been to PetroLab's new business development, and to find out how the PEMC could support your company to grow:

James Strongman, PetroLab Ltd
James is a Director and the Principal Mineralogist at Petrolab Ltd. He has been with the company since 2001, starting as a junior petrographer under the supervison of Petrolab's founder, Dr Alan Bromley and subsequently purchasing the company in 2006.

During his 13 years with the company, he has gained a wide spectrum of experience in the analysis of materials ranging from concrete and man-made stone replacements to precious and rare earth metals found in electronic scrap. His specialist field is, however, metalliferous ores, and he has developed a broad knowledge for the importance and application of mineralogy to mineral processing problems.

Petrolab has in recent years been looking for an opportunity to enter into the field of Automated Mineralogy. With the collaboration and support of both Plymouth University and Oxford Instruments over the last year, Petrolab has been able to launch its Automated Mineralogy services to the mining and mineral processing industries, a move the company see as vital to its business development.

Keith Taylor, Oxford Instruments
Keith is a Sales Engineer with Oxford Instruments NanoAnalysis, a role which he has been doing for 6 years, during which time he has gained microscopy experience working on customer applications with many types of samples including geological materials, metals, ceramics and glass.  His background by training is electronics, having worked in manufacturing and sales for high-tech industries including aerospace, medical and mechanical engineering.

Oxford Instruments launched one of the first commercially available dedicated microanalysis packages for minerals identification and characterisation in 1991. Since then, sustained development of detector technology and software algorithms have significantly increased the analysis speed and capabilities of their systems.

With the launch of INCAMineral in 2012 and AZtec LAM (Large Area Mapping) in 2013 the company now provides the most comprehensive and advanced toolset for the analysis of geological materials in the scanning electron microscope – all of which can be accessed by industry at the Electron Microscopy Centre in Plymouth University (and for free for eligible companies).

To register for this free event, funded by ERDF, please go to:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/EMC_workshop_18thFeb

Calling all those in Mining, Geology and Recycling

We are delighted to announce that our second EMC Industrial Solutions Breakfast will be held at Plymouth University on Tuesday 18 February. We will be running a number of breakfast events throughout 2014, each one aimed at demonstrating the relevance and value of Electron Microscopy to a particular business sector or group of sectors.

This event is designed particularly for those in Mining, Geology and Recycling businesses, and will feature the following keynote speakers:

• James Strongman - Co-Director of PetroLab and prolific electron microscopy user
• Keith Taylor - Sales Engineer of Oxford Instruments, with particular expertise in electron microscopy

We will be looking at business issues such as:

• troubleshooting production issues
• improving quality control
• identifying contaminants
• verifying product composition
• checking waste residues

... and the use of electron microscopy as an essential tool to help resolve these and other issues affecting your business.

There will also be an opportunity to:

• look around our facilities and speak to our technical staff
• bring along your company's samples for analysis
• start your 12 hours of free support from the EMC (part-funded by ERDF).

To book, please register online:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/EMC_workshop_18thFeb

Alternatively, please contact:
events@plymouth.ac.uk or 01752 586005

Industrial Solutions Breakfasts update

We held our first 2014 Industrial Solutions breakfast last week, aimed at demonstrating the relevance of electron microscopy to the engineering and manufacturing sector - thank you to all those who attended and contributed to our first event; it went extremely well.

Delegates enjoyed a hearty breakfast of breakfast-rolls, danishes and fruit in our Rolle Conference Suite, followed by our two key-note presentations from Dr Cameron Pleydell-Pearce (Tata Steel) and Richard Bartlett (Centrax) who focussed on how they have used electron microscopy in business to increase quality and reduce waste, amongst other benefits (for a copy of the presentations, please contact Claire Pearce - claire.pearce@plymouth.ac.uk) .

Delegates then took a tour of the Materials Characterisation Lab and the Electron Microscopy Centre, which has seen £1.3 million of investment over the last two years, supported by Plymouth University, JEOL and the ERDF Competitiveness programme, with networking continuing throughout.
  

Two companies brought samples for analysis on the day and others signed up for our ERDF-supported use of the Electron Microscopy Centre for 12 hours over the next year.

Our next Industrial Solutions breakfast will take place at Plymouth University on Tuesday 18 February, starting at 08.00;  the focus will be electron microscopy in MINING, RECYCLING AND GEOLOGY.  Watch this space for more details ...,

Speaker details for Wednesday 15 January - have you booked your place yet?

We're pleased to give you a brief summary of our two speakers for next Wednesday’s breakfast. As you can see they have a great deal of practical experience in using electron microscopy to make a difference in the companies they have worked with; this success could be applied to your business, with the support of the PEMC:

Dr Cameron Pleydell-Pearce - Tata Steel Lecturer at Swansea University
Before undertaking his current role, Cameron trained as a materials engineer at Swansea University in an environment of strong industrial–academic collaboration, particularly with Rolls-Royce plc. During this time he developed a strong interest in electron microscopy and micro-analysis. Following his PhD, which was focussed on novel joining techniques for Rolls-Royce, he accepted a post-doctoral position in their Swansea University Technology Centre, in 2007. Here he worked on a variety of projects from fundamental studies on titanium alloys in partnership with Timet UK to material validations for the Trent 1000 and XWB series engines.

Cameron has used his experience in electron microscopy to benefit a wide range of companies on a consultancy basis from the power generation, aerospace and automotive sectors. In his current position Cameron works within the South Wales metallurgical industry on a daily basis and continues to employ electron microscopy techniques to solve a wide range of manufacturing and maintenance issues.  Cameron is currently directing the construction of a multi-million pound electron microscopy facility that will be based on a new £250M innovation campus in South Wales.

Richard Bartlett - Materials Engineer at Centrax
Richard joined Centrax Turbine Components Ltd in 2012 as the Materials Engineer where he is responsible for materials testing and process validation for precision machined turbine components for aerospace engines and industrial gas turbine engines.

Upon graduating from Loughborough in 2002, he joined Perkins Engines Ltd in Peterborough, a diesel engine manufacturer, before moving to the south west in 2005 to join Alcoa Howmet Ltd in Exeter, working on the investment casting of turbine components for industrial gas turbine engines.
In 2010, he joined Fine Tubes Ltd in Plymouth, a precision tubing manufacturer and whilst there, introduced a new degreasing process using a non-chlorinated solvent.

Richard has worked with scanning electron microscopes since the start of his career at Perkins where he found it an absolutely fundamental part of their materials investigations; saving thousands of pounds per year is warranty claims alone. He has continued to add value through SEM ever since.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday:
www.surveymonkey.com/s/EMC_workshop_15thJan