May 2017 - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. held an opening ceremony on May 9 for the Electron Microscopy Center of Excellence at the KAUST campus in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. This new center builds upon the long-standing partnership between KAUST and Thermo Fisher, and will focus on excellence in instrument performance and R&D collaboration.

The Center of Excellence aims to offer KAUST scientists and collaborators exploration and experimentation capabilities through Thermo Fisher's leading electron microscopy platform. Industry partners located in the KAUST Research and Technology Park will also benefit from proximity to Thermo Fisher’s deep application knowledge in materials science.

"We have enjoyed a long history with KAUST and look forward to continued collaboration and technology advancement as part of this new Center of Excellence," said Michael Shafer, president, materials and structural analysis, Thermo Fisher. "By gaining access to the latest characterisation techniques, hardware and software available on the market, KAUST will have the opportunity to advance scientific research in the areas of chemistry and catalyst research, nanoparticles and life sciences."

Dr. Justin Mynar, director of the KAUST Core Laboratories and Major Facilities said, "This center embodies the mission of our strategic partnership with Thermo Fisher to achieve our common goals in the advancement of high-performance imaging technologies. Our collaboration seeks to elevate the experimental capabilities and capacity in the Electron Microscopy Center of Excellence to provide our students, faculty, researchers and partners an array of scientific opportunities and advantages for the first time in Saudi Arabia."

The center's opening ceremony included the official commissioning of the FEI Titan Themis Z scanning transmission electron microscope (S/TEM), the most advanced analytical transmission electron microscope commercially available to date and the first to be installed in the world. Materials scientists use the Titan Themis Z to understand relationships between a material's larger-scale physical properties and its atomic-scale composition and structure. This system joins other highly advanced electron microscopy systems already installed at the center, including a total of 16 electron microscopes from Thermo Fisher.

This Center of Excellence is the first implementation in a strategy by KAUST to build long-term partnerships with major instrument suppliers. It will serve as a model for future opportunities to provide state-of-the-art research facilities, training and services to KAUST users and collaborators across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.