Microscopy/Microscopy Education

Education ... Not just training

"Education...Not just microscopy training." 
In the micro lab, there is a difference between learning how to push a button or turn a dial and developing the hand-eye-brain coordination which is so critical to good microscopy.  That's the difference between routine training and the MME approach to microscopy courses:  Microscopy/Microscopy Education is dedicated to helping you build both a strong skills base as well as a clear understanding of how your microscope works and how to interpret the images it produces. 

MME is America's first national consortium of microscopy experts specializing in customized, on-site microscopy courses in all areas of microscopy, sample preparation, spectroscopy and image analysis .  [Learn more]
"May we have your input?"   (Current User Studies)
Microscopy-Analysis.com is building a new website... Give us your input! Study now running.

Microscopy-Analysis.com is THE premier website for microscopy in our industry.  With the new tools available, but they have some exciting ideas about how to make their site even better and they want to know what YOU think.   Take part in our current User Study and let us know.

To access the study, click HERE or paste this link into your browser:  
http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22FP48LLCED

The deadline for submitting your answers is midnight (Eastern Daylight Time), Saturday, May 19th. 

To say "Thanks," all completed studies will be entered into a special drawing for one of SIX $100 gift certificates from Amazon.com.  Because this is a world-wide study, 2 gift certificates will be awarded to participants from North and South America; 2 for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; and 2 for Russia, India, Asia, and the Pacific Rim.  The winners will be announced Tuesday, May 22nd, both here on MicroscopyEducation.com and on Microscopy-Analysis.com. 

As always, to protect your privacy, all data will be de-identified prior to processing. 

Questions or problems with the study? Just call (+1 972-924-5310) or email (bfoster@mme1.com).

Thanks for your input! 


... and the WINNER IS...

New approaches to micro & nano-characterization
Winner to be annouced Thursday noon, May 10th.  

Innovative new microscopy+spectroscopy tools
With over 840 of you taking part in this important study on the microscopy/spectroscopy interface, our congratulations to Xiang Yang, who works in the Materials Science labs at St. Mary's University in Halifax Nova Scotia.
Benchtop SEMs
With over 1500 of you taking part in this insightful study into the benchtop SEM arena, our congratulations go to Brad Bergman, Metallography Supervisor at Laboratory Testing Inc in Hatfield,PA.
Interested in taking part in MME studies but not on our "invitation" list?  Just email me (bfoster@mme1.com) with your name, the name of your facility, and a short list of the instrumentation you use (Ex: Light microscopy, fluorescence, SEM, TEM, AFM, etc.).  We'll add you to the very next study.

Again, thanks to you all!

 Social Media in Microscopy & Spectroscopy
Over 700 of you took part in this all-important comparative study to show how we use Social Media!  Every data point is important and we thank you so much for your input!

The winners of the $100 Amazon gift certificates were (in no special order):
Christopher Duncan of Honeywell Aerospace/Torrance
Jon Holan of Trelleborg Coated Systems US
Melissa Jurica of UCSC
Patrick Pfaffle of Carthage College
Tom Blackwood of Healthsite Associates.
Our congratulations to you all!

This closes our 2011 End-user studies.  Keep tuned in January for future opportunities to take part!  And if you are not currently on our "Platinum List" but would like to be invited to be part of future studies, please just email me (bfoster@mme1.com) your name, contact info, and a brief description of your discipline and the equipment you use. We'd be happy to add you!

Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) in Image Analysis
With 663 of you taking part in this study, the winner is John Chandler of the Colorado School of Mines!  John will receive an amazing Bose SoundLink(R) wireless mobile speaker in elegant leather case. 

Again, we want to thank each and every one of you who took the time to complete this important User Study.  When we say that "Every data point counts," we really mean it.  Case in point:  Those of you who attended the recent M&M meeting (Nashville, Aug 2-7), might have seen XEI's new CombiCleaner and Attolight's new LM/SEM/Time-resolved CL system.  Both benefitted from your input on recent MME studies, coming to market much sooner, and with the technical features folks like you specified!  


PAST WINNERS...
Simultaneous Optical & Electron imaging - With over 1000 microscopists participating, Ian Drucker of Applied Materials and Kevin Roberts of the University of Minnesota!  Each won a $500 gift certificate to Amazon.com for their participation in this important User Study.  

New methods in materials characterization - Our congratulations to Dr. Carol Trager-Cowan of the Physics Department at Strathclyde University.  She won a $500 git certificate to Amazon.com for her participation in this important User Study.  When we sent our congratulations, she wrote back to say that she will probably spend the money on microscopy books for her department.  Lucky staff and kids at Strathclyde!

Color Calibration and measurement
Physicists seem to be having all the luck in our recent random drawings!  Congratulations to Mohammad Alrubaiee of CCNY's Physics Department.  A Bose Wave II radio with iPod docking station is on its way to him, to say "Thanks" for his participation in this important study. 

Questions or problems with any of our surveys? Just email me at bfoster@mme1.com or call me at (972)924-5310.

Thanks again for your input!
Barbara Foster, 
President & Sr. Consultant
What's New?
Microscopy Courses
Need an on-site microscopy course?  Microscopy/Microscopy Education will build one to your specifications.  Just tell us what you need.  From light microscopy to EM, Pol and Fluorescence to AFM to image processing and analysis.  And ask about our new FT-IR courses . 



Need help setting up Koehler? Here's an article that will help. 


New articles in the library:
In 2008, Nature voted Superresolution as it's "Method of the Year."  A mere two years later, the show floor at the Society for Neuroscience boasted nearly a dozen companies providing commercialized instruments to probe the rarefied world of nano structures and processes.  Here'a  quick update on four key superresolution techniques.  

Confocal microscopy has aggressively jumped the fence from bio to the industrial world, becoming a major tool-of-choice for characterizing surfaces and wear as well as evaluting thin film thickness and counting, sizing, and defining distribution of particles in epitaxial films.
Nanotechnology is having a big impact on the direction of microscopy and imaging, driving those technologies to be faster, smaller, and more economical

Barbara  Foster invited to present paper at M&M
MME's founder, Barbara Foster was invited to give a paper on the impact of nanotechnology on microscopy and imaging. 

The presentation reviews both the new desktop SEMs as well as the proliferation of hybrid Raman- and FTIR-microscopy systems.  



Fluorescence Reference Slides
How evenly is your fluorescence illuminator filling your field of view?  Is it centered?  Are you monitoring the laser output and PMT settings for your confocal microscope? 

FluorRef? fluorescence reference slides provide a quick easy-to-use solution.  Made of durable plastic, they generate a continuous fluorescent field.  No hunting for microspheres, no cellular photobleaching.  [Read more...]