Prof. Igor Sokolov, director of the Nanoengineering and Biotechnology Laboratories Center (NABLAB) at Clarkson University, was named a winner in the first phase of the Veeco Labs Research Grant Program, "HarmoniX Innovation," which was designed to stimulate the generation of new scientific investigation for researchers in the atomic force microscopy (AFM) community.
Sokolov, a professor of physics and chemical & biomolecular science, won for his research titled "Study of Local Rigidity Distributions on Human Cells: 'Sick' versus Normal Cells."
Veeco Instruments is the leading provider of scanning probe microscopes (SPM) to the nanoscience community.
Veeco Labs is a worldwide competitive grant program that was created to facilitate collaboration between Veeco and the leading scientists in the SPM community. The first phase of Veeco Labs solicited the best ideas for research and development in various areas of nano- and bio-material development using Veeco's new full-spectrum HarmoniX Nanoscale Material Property Mapping technique. The proposals were reviewed by a panel of Veeco scientists based on a broad range of technical criteria.
The winning recipients of the full-spectrum HarmoniX Microscopy package represented four countries and a wide variety of applications. Schools represented by the winners included University of Delaware, University of Colorado, Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel), University of Twente (Netherlands), University of Mons-Hainaut (Belgium), Delft University of Technology (Netherlands), and Texas A&M University.
"We believe that SPM and nanotechnology research will be a driving force behind advancements in energy, which are fundamental to the future of our economy and our environment," said Stephen Minne, Ph.D., senior director of Veeco AFM Product Management. "The launch of the second phase of Veeco Labs, SPM in Energy, will provide seed grants to help our customers accelerate their research in this vitally important area."