$5 million for microscopes, part of the big picture for science

The Brumby Government’s $5 million co-investment in the new Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy (MCEM) will give Victorian, Australian and international researchers and industry unprecedented access to some of the world’s best scientific instruments.

Innovation Minister Gavin Jennings opened the centre today and said it would give Victorian scientists access to the infrastructure they need to make breakthroughs in the rapidly growing field of nanotechnology.

“The Brumby Government is taking action to support innovation and has committed over $2.1 billion to its Innovation Agenda, the largest such commitment of any State Government.“The Brumby Government is taking action to support innovation.”

“Nanotechnology is delivering better materials for a vast array of products from sunscreens to electronic devices, to new drugs and more fuel-efficient jet engines,” Mr Jennings said. 

“Victoria has been crying out for such a facility, which will concentrate research efforts across the private and public sectors, and across international borders.”

Electron microscopy enables the study of the structure of physical and biological matter from the atomic to the micron scale. The facility will house:
•    A new Field Emission Gun-Transmission Electron Microscope (FEG TEM), the highest resolution microscope in Australia;
•    A Low Energy Electron Microscope (LEEM), the only one of its kind in the world; and
•    An Atom Probe Field Ion Microscope (APFIM), one of fewer than 10 worldwide.

“This is sensitive equipment, similar in complexity to the Australian Synchrotron. It requires qualified staff to use it, and I’m pleased to say, Monash has that expertise,” Mr Jennings said.

“The MCEM will be a key centre within Monash University’s recently established Institute for Nanoscience, Materials and Manufacture.”

The Brumby Government’s co-investment builds on the Government’s Nanotechnology Statement, released earlier this year.

A recent forecast by the New York-based Lux Research Inc, a leading nanotechnology research agency, predicts nano-enabled goods worth around $US3 trillion will be produced globally by 2015. The figure for 2007 was around $US147 billion.

The Australian Nanotechnology Alliance (ANA) expects Australian manufacturers to produce up to $A60 billion in nano-enabled products by 2015, and employ around 125,000 people.
 
“I am sure this centre will, in time, be responsible for the sorts of breakthroughs that will lead Victoria closer to its goal of being a bio-economy and will help make us a healthier, more productive and environmentally sustainable economy and community,” Mr Jennings said.

The total project cost of the MCEM over the next five years is $A24 million, including $A14 million for the facility and equipment upgrades, and an annual operating budget of $A2 million.