NEW01-TReND

NPL is a world-leading centre in the development and application of highly accurate measurement techniques. As the UK's national standards laboratory, NPL underpins the national measurement system, ensuring consistency and traceability of measurements throughout the UK. Other areas of expertise include the design and characterisation of engineering materials, and the development of mathematical software, especially its application to measurement and instrumentation. www.npl.co.uk

The BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing is a senior scientific and technical Federal Institute with responsibility to the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). The technological productivity of the Federal Republic of Germany is based on competitive high-quality products, which are to be ensured by innovative measurement and testing technology. BAM has its responsibility in:

• Advancement of safety in technology and chemistry
• Physical and chemical inspections of materials and plants including supply of reference methods and reference materials
• Promoting the transfer of knowledge and technology in BAM's key areas
• Collaboration in developing legal regulations like on safety standards and threshold values
• Consulting on safety aspects of materials technology for the Federal Government and industry.

BAM is the successor of the Public Materials Testing Office (Staatliches Materialprüfungsamt) founded in 1871 and of the Chemical-Technical State Institute (Chemisch-Technische Reichsanstalt) set up in 1920.

Our mission: Safety in technology and chemistry

Pursuing our mission as a Federal Institute for materials technology and chemical engineering, we ensure ongoing safety in technology and chemistry through

• Research and development
• Testing, analysis, approval and certification
• Consultation, information and advice

within our objective of promoting German and European industrial development.

Key areas of research

• Analytical chemistry
• Safe handling of dangerous materials and dangerous goods
• Safe and environmentally compatible use of materials
• Safe operation of technical systems and processes
• Damage mechanisms and damage analysis

CEA is a French research and technology organization, with activities in four main areas: energy, information technologies, healthcare technologies and defence and security. Within CEA, the Laboratory for Electronics & Information Technology (CEA-Leti) works with companies in order to increase their competitiveness through technological innovation and transfers.

CEA-Leti is focused on micro and nanotechnologies and their applications, from wireless devices and systems, to biology and healthcare or photonics. Nanoelectronics and microsystems (MEMS) are at the core of its activities. As a major player in MINATEC campus, CEA-Leti operates 8,000-m² state-of-the-art clean rooms, on 24/7 mode, on 200mm and 300mm wafer standards. With 1,400 employees, CEA-Leti trains more than 190 Ph.D. students and hosts 200 assignees from partner companies. Strongly committed to the creation of value for the industry, CEA-Leti puts great emphasis on generating intellectual property and owns more than 1,700 patent families.

Visit www.leti.fr/en

Czech Metrology Institute (CMI) is a National Metrology Institute of Czech Republic. CMI covers all the key fields of fundamental, industrial and legal metrology, maintaining and developing national standards, performing metrology research and measurements from primary etalons up to the level of practical calibrations for industry.

Since 1998, a scientific group forming later Department of Nanometrology focused on scanning probe microscopy metrology and related methods development. This includes at present providing traceability for scanning probe microscopy methods (metrology SPM), and developing methods for quantitative analysis of different physical quantities with nanometer resolution and numerical analysis. The main effort of the Department is equally distributed between scientific projects, instrumentation development and publication activities.

PTB performs fundamental research and development work in the field of metrology as a basis for all the tasks entrusted to it in the areas concerning the determination of fundamental and natural constants, the realization, maintenance and dissemination of the legal units of the SI, safety engineering, services and metrology for the area regulated by law and for industry, as well as technology transfer. Only fundamental research work performed by PTB itself using latest technologies will enable it to ensure on a long-term basis its metrological competence recognized on the international level, and to extend it further.

The Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRIM) is a public body under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research. INRIM is devoted to the study of the science of measurements and to research into materials; furthermore it works on developing innovative technologies and devices. Performing the duties of primary metrological Institute, INRIM realises the primary standards for the basic and derived units of the International System of units (SI), assures the maintenance of such standards, their international comparison, provides the national measurements traceability to the SI, represents Italy in the international metrology.

ION-TOF GmbH is the leading European supplier of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and high-sensitivity low energy ion scattering (LEIS). Since its establishment as a spin-off of the University of Muenster in 1989, ION-TOF has continuously been working on extending the fields of application. ToF-SIMS has become a standard requirement for a surface analysis laboratory.

With more than 200 instruments installed world-wide, the company is the preferred partner for the industrial and academic use of the equipment it provides. In order to meet future demands as well, ION-TOF's engineers are not solely involved in developing equipment, but also carry out basic research in co-operation with national and international project partners. Its policy to build the most innovative ion beam technology for surface science and the continued investment in R&D will produce new instruments with even better performance.

Visit www.iontof.com

Imec is a leading R&D lab for nano-electronics and nano-technology. Its staff of close to 2,000 people includes over 600 industrial residents and guest researchers. IMEC's goal is to create solutions and building blocks for a better, healthier life in a sustainable environment - through innovations in nano-electronics.

In an international research environment, imec scientists and engineers collaborate with experts from top companies, research institutes and universities in ICT, healthcare, and energy. Next to these industrial collaborations, IMEC is involved in many European and Flemish research projects - developing exploratory and emerging technologies.

Imec has its headquarter in Leuven, Belgium, where the main labs and state-of-the-art cleanrooms are located. Additional R&D teams are working in The Netherlands, China, Taiwan, and India, and sales offices represent IMEC in Japan and the USA.

Visit www.imec.be