August 29, 2018
The Columbia Nano Initiative (CNI) is more than just a 5000 square foot shared lab space in the heart of New York City. It is an embodiment of the idea that if you bring the right people, organization, and tools together, incredible things can happen. Founded out of similar, earlier initiatives (the Columbia Radiation Lab then the Center for Integrated Science and Engineering), the plan seems to be working. Only 4 years in, 107 research groups utilize the shared labs of CNI, who are all pumping out an impressive amount of realized innovation.
In September 2017, Motherboard created a story featuring the Columbia Nano Initiative. The author of the article (Caroline Haskins) speaks to various people who have a role at CNI about just how important thin-film is to our modern world. Thin film technology is everywhere: the screens we look at for hours a day, the semiconductors in our phones and computers, solar cells, medical implants, optical coatings on windows, camera lenses, and eyewear, as well as utility coatings on tools, sports equipment, and product packaging.
Research Operations Assistant Melody Gonzalez gave the journalist a tour of the cleanroom. Upon passing the silver machine the users had dubbed ‘The Angstrom’, Gonzalez said that it “is the most popular tool in the room. It has electron beam, heat, and pressure systems that are used in a variety of thin film projects.” She went on to say that “people cried during a three-month period in the Clean Room renovation that kept them from the Angstrom.”
In March of this year, we installed another system at CNI (seen left on desktop, above on mobile), so have had the opportunity for more connection with our partners in New York. Director of facilities Dr. Nava Ariel-Sternberg recently reached out to express her thoughts on Angstrom:
“I wanted to express our appreciation of Angstrom Engineering. As the Director of the Shared Labs in the Columbia Nano Initiative I am overseeing the management, operation, and maintenance of many pieces of equipment across three main labs as well as working with many vendors and service providers for these Nanofabrication and Characterization systems. The two deposition systems we purchased from Angstrom Engineering (EvoVac and NexDep) are being heavily used in our 300 users clean room lab in various research projects and applications. The systems are ‘workhorses’, highly reliable and user friendly. The systems are efficiently designed and economical in their use of deposition materials. The students working in our clean room are familiar and appreciative of Angstrom Engineering systems and I believe that based on this positive experience they are likely to choose to purchase them in the future when they graduate and continue in their professional path.
In addition, we are grateful to the Angstrom Engineering team for their outstanding level of service. Every question and request our engineers have is being answered in a timely and professional manner. Communication with the technical support team is very clear and helpful. They are very knowledgeable and nice. Parts and machine related consumables are reasonably priced and are being sent without delays which is a crucial factor for the successful operation of our multi user facility.
Working with Angstrom Engineering has been a pleasure to me and my staff and we are very happy we chose to purchase our deposition systems from your company.”
Dr. Nava Ariel-Sternberg
We at Angstrom Engineering are proud to provide the tools and logistical support required to let today’s most brilliant minds create the future. Our role is to make their work as easy as possible so that they can achieve their goals, as well as to make a brighter future possible for everyone.