Events
Upcoming Events
Workshop: Multimodal super-resolution IR spectroscopy
Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 10 a.m. through Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 5 p.m.
Walter Library and Shepherd Labs, University of Minnesota East Bank
We are excited to invite you to an exclusive Lunch & Learn workshop at the University of Minnesota on Tuesday, April 29th. This session will introduce cutting-edge Photothermal Infrared (PTIR) techniques, with a focus on emerging submicron IR imaging and local spectroscopy.
Workshop Highlights
📍 Location: Walter Library 402
🥪 Lunch provided for registered attendees
Join our expert speakers for an in-depth look at multimodal super-resolution IR spectroscopy:
🔬 Dr. Greg Haugstad (Characterization Facility Principal Researcher & Technical Director, University of Minnesota)
→ Overview of the instrumentation in the Characterization Facility
→ Deep dive into the AFM-PTIR capabilities available on campus
→ AFM-PTIR demo on resident research samples after talks
🔬 Dr. Eoghan Dillon (Photothermal Spectroscopy Corp.)
→ Overcoming FTIR & Raman limitations with Optical Photothermal Infrared (O-PTIR)
→ How O-PTIR enables high-resolution IR spectroscopy (<500nm spatial resolution)
→ Real-world applications from life sciences, materials science, and microplastic detection
→ live remote demo of O-PTIR in action at the end of the talk
Live O-PTIR Demos on Campus: April 29 – May 1
📍 Location: Room 22, Shepherd Labs (100 Union St SE, Minneapolis, MN)
Please register through this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1301189716469?aff=oddtdtcreator
Interested in testing a sample? Select 'Yes' when booking your spot, and we’ll follow up with details!
Questions about time and sample? Contact Dr. Ting Yan (Photothermal Spectroscopy Corp) at [email protected]
Register now to secure your spot!
We look forward to seeing you there!
CharFac Seminar: Pushing EBSD to the Limits
Wednesday, May 7, 2025, 10:30 a.m. through Wednesday, May 7, 2025, 11:30 a.m.
Rapson Hall rm 43
In this talk Dr. Nick Seaton will introduce the technique of Electron BackScattered Diffraction (EBSD) in the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and discuss what typically governs the maximum spatial and angular resolution of the technique. We will then discuss approaches to improve both the spatial resolution, such as Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction, and angular resolution, such as High Resolution EBSD.
Please register using the following google form link:
IPRIME Annual Meeting 2025
Tuesday, May 27, 2025, 8 a.m. through Thursday, May 29, 2025, 4:30 p.m.
Twin Cities campus
Mark your calendars for this year's IPRIME Annual Meeting from May 27-29, 2025, on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus! This meeting attracts several hundred participants and offers a lively scientific exchange between our member companies and the faculty and students involved in IPRIME’s research programs.
More information will be available soon on the IPRIME website. Registration opens April 15.
SPMConnect 2025
Monday, June 9, 2025, 8 a.m. through Wednesday, June 11, 2025, 5 p.m.
Austin, Texas
Analytical Microscopy in the Earth & Planetary Sciences
Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, 8 a.m. through Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, 5 p.m.
Virtual and Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BG
Past Events
CharFac Seminar: A multimodal approach to surface profilometry
Wednesday, March 19, 2025, 10:30 a.m. through Wednesday, March 19, 2025, 11:30 a.m.
101 Walter Library
Quantification of surface topography is a critical first step for understanding and improving materials and devices. Surface profilometry is an important step in the recreation of surface structures on a micron-scale. The techniques for doing so are varied and each have their own benefits and considerations. Here we review and compare the methods of stylus profilometry and optical profilometry – including different modes of the latter – over an array of hard and soft materials. This will include a remote demo of CharFac's new Keyence VKX-3000 Optical Profilometer.
Please register using the following google form link:
IPRIME Mid-Year Workshop 2025
Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, 8 a.m. through Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, 4:30 p.m.
Keller Hall
This year’s workshop will focus on materials challenges in biomedical applications and how fundamental materials research can contribute to enhancing efficacy and functionality of devices, delivery systems and therapeutics. Topics will include areas such as:
- New approaches for precisely engineering the structure and function of poloxamer hydrogels for non-invasive therapeutic delivery
- Interfacial rheology of surfactants and their application in the lungs
- Harnessing albumin hitchhiking as a biomaterial delivery strategy for mucosal vaccines
- Biodegradable and implantable elastomers
- An injectable on-demand dissolvable (IODD) polymers for drug delivery
- Designing novel biodegradable polymers for drug delivery
- Tackling materials design challenges through collaboration with the Bakken Medical Devices Center
- Ensuring Material Biostability and Biocompatibility for Chronically Implanted Medical Devices
- Understanding small crystallinity changes in PET affecting mechanical function
We will end the day with a tour of the UMN College of Science and Engineering’s Materials Characterization Facility.
Full details on the IPRIME website: https://cse.umn.edu/iprime
Cryo-EM Candidate Seminar - Dr. Ryan Abdella
Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, 9 a.m. through Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, 10 a.m.
6-135 Jackson Hall and Zoom
The Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics is recruiting a Research Assistant Professor with expertise in cryo-transmission electron microscopy that will work in the Characterization Facility (CharFac), which houses a variety of transmission and scanning electron microscopes in addition to other biological and advanced materials characterization instruments. The candidate will oversee new acquisitions that include a cryo-electron transmission microscope (cryo-TEM; Glacios 2) and a cryo-focused ion beam-scanning electron microscope (cryo-FIB-SEM; Aquilos 2).
Please join us on Wednesday, December 11th at 9 AM in 6-135 Jackson Hall for a seminar by our second candidate, Dr. Ryan Abdella. Zoom information is listed below.
Join Zoom Meeting https://umn.zoom.us/j/98785352064?pwd=P6gqqptavmpXbQKyJkvofMWjyLQRDf.1 Meeting ID: 987 8535 2064 Passcode: fQmK7U
Cryo-EM Candidate Seminar - Dr. Nathan Hardenbrook
Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, 9 a.m. through Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, 10 a.m.
6-135 Jackson Hall and Zoom
Please join us on Monday, December 9th at 9 AM in 6-135 Jackson Hall for a seminar by our first candidate, Dr. Nathan Hardenbrook. Zoom information is listed below.
https://umn.zoom.us/j/94655815138?pwd=ALp81jakuBbdD7U0bt2CiRoKcaqjSd.1 Meeting ID: 946 5581 5138 Passcode: jBG9Uw
SPM Symposium at 2024 MRS Fall Meeting
Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, 7:30 a.m. through Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, Noon
Boston, Massachusetts
Symposium CH03-Towards Quantitative Characterization of Soft Materials by Scanning Probe Microscopy—Beyond Imaging
Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) stands as a formidable technology capable of visualizing, characterizing, and even manipulating nanostructures through the use of a sharp probe. The versatility of SPM makes it a valuable tool for addressing diverse challenges across a wide array of domains considering soft materials, such as energy harvesting, organic electronics, biosensors, self-assembly, biotechnology, life sciences, mechanobiology, cosmetics, and medical applications, particularly in the field of nanomedicine. This cutting-edge field has seen remarkable advancements in recent years, continually introducing new techniques and applications, especially in the realm of soft materials and biological specimens, including disease-related samples with diagnostic potential. Nevertheless, SPM is not without its own set of challenges. Precisely measuring the mechanical properties of materials and effectively handling the substantial amount of data generated by SPM techniques remain major hurdles.
The primary aim of this symposium is to provide an international platform for the exchange of research findings among globally recognized experts actively engaged in the domain of scanning probe microscopy applied to soft polymeric (bio)materials and living organisms. Industrial partners will also be part of the dialogue, facilitating discussions on the potential of novel SPM approaches. This symposium serves as a unique opportunity to both showcase and deliberate on the current state of SPM methods when dealing with challenges and to chart the course for future applications in the context of soft polymeric (bio)materials and living organisms. Furthermore, this symposium is part of the broader Materials Research Society series focused on SPM techniques. The track record of this series in uniting leading figures from academia and industry, as well as attracting budding researchers and students, has been remarkable. Importantly, this event is expected to span a range of disciplines, encompassing material sciences, engineering, biophysics, condensed matter physics, and the development of cutting-edge instrumentation.
CharFac Exhibit at BioInterface 2024
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, 8 a.m. through Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, 5 p.m.
Minneapolis, MN
CharFac will be an exhibitor at BioInterface 2024. Please follow the link below to learn more about the event:
CharFac Academic User Meeting 2024
Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, 8:45 a.m. through Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, 2 p.m.
Rapson Hall 100 and Rapson Courtyard
There will be an introduction from CharFac followed by a series of talks by CharFac users in the morning, with lunch and a poster session by CharFac staff in the afternoon.
The current agenda can be found here.
Please be sure to register using the following google form: https://forms.gle/QHwosvhRjt6m9ZYA8
Lunch will be provided to those who register by August 14th.
SPMConnect at TechConnect 2024
Monday, June 17, 2024, 8 a.m. through Wednesday, June 19, 2024, 5 p.m.
Washington, DC
SPMConnect is an annual AFM-based conference to foster and support the AFM community in terms of idea exchange, best practices development, mentoring, and career development. In addition to research talks, in line with the industrial/innovation theme of the broader TCW meeting, SPMConnect will feature panel discussions and plenty of opportunities for AFM researchers and scientists to meet, network and exchange ideas.
This conference aims to bring together users from a wide variety of disciplines including polymer science, biology, energy, computing, materials science, and more who share an interest in SPM as an instrument to explore nanoscale phenomena and characterization. SPMConnect aims to include scientists and researchers from a wide variety of backgrounds including industry, instrumentation vendors, academia, and national labs. Technical abstracts for both oral and poster presentation are welcomed with topics for SPMConnect listed below.
https://www.techconnectworld.com/World2024/sym/SPMConnect.html
2024 IPRIME Annual Meeting
Tuesday, May 28, 2024, 8 a.m. through Thursday, May 30, 2024, 4:30 p.m.
Keller Hall
The 2024 IPRIME Annual Meeting will be held May 28-30, 2024 on the UMN Twin Cities Campus.
Visit the IPRIME website for more information: https://cse.umn.edu/iprime/2024-annual-meeting
Bruker and University of Minnesota BioAFM Workshop
Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, 8 a.m. through Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, 4:30 p.m.
Nils Hasselmo Hall, 1st Floor
Discover the Latest Advances in BioAFM Technology
Bruker is pleased to co-host a BioAFM Workshop in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Characterization Facility (CharFac) on February 21-22, 2024. During this free two-day event, there will be presentations from distinguished research groups as well as Applications Expert, Dr. Yi Wei (Bruker) showcasing the unique and powerful capabilities of the technique.
We will also provide hands-on demonstrations with Bruker’s NanoWizard V BioAFM. If interested in seeing what this technology can do for your research project, please follow the instructions in the email you receive shortly after registering for the event.
Space is limited. Register today to secure your spot.