Micro & Nano Scale Manufacturing
Micro and nano manufacturing research within the University of Glasgow is underpinned by the James Watt Nanofabrication Centre. The vision for JWNC is to continue to be the best resourced and capable UK micro- and nano-fabrication laboratory. The Centre will retain a balance between providing manufacturable, transferrable processing for academic and industrial partners whilst also performing world-leading research in enabling nanofabrication, devices and systems for applications spanning imaging, sensing, communications, security, safety, healthcare, bio-tech, clean-tech and energy.
Overview
The JWNC is a 1350 m2 micro- and nano-fabrication environment that enables the creative realisation of prototype components with lengthscales from nanometres to centimetres, on a large variety of materials. These solutions are developed in ways that are scalable to manufacture. All of this is enabled by a £30M toolset which is fully supported by a highly skilled and committed technical team of 25 people, who together have over 500 person years investment in micro- and nano-fabrication. As a research beacon of the University of Glasgow, the JWNC has one of the most highly evolved and sustainable costing models of any micro- and nano-fabrication facility in the UK. A rolling 10 year capital equipment plan with a value of £8M has been in place for over 3 years. This, together with the technical team, ensures the 220 researchers active in the JWNC can focus on delivering their projects safe in the knowledge that the equipment will be fully maintained, operational and delivering robust and repeatable capability. The Centre currently has over £50M of active research grants, collaborates with 90 national and international universities and research institutions, and has provided micro- and nano-fabrication services to nearly 300 companies in the last 5 years.
People Involved
Professor Iain Thayne - Professor of Ultrafast Systems
Professor Douglas Paul - Professor of Electronic & Nanoscale Engineering
Professor Nikolaj Gadegaard - Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Professor Jonathan Weaver - Professor of Applied Nanofabrication
Professor Marc Sorel - Professor of Electronic and Nanoscale Engineering
Dr Phil Dobson - Lecturer of Electronic and Nanoscale Engineering
Dr Stephen Thoms – Research Technologist
Arthur Smith – Director of Operations, James Watt Nanofabrication Centre