About Mines’ Shared Instrumentation Facility

What is Mines’ Shared Instrumentation Facility (SIF)

Launched in July 2021, Mines’ Shared Instrumentation Facility (SIF) provides centralized access to Mines world-class equipment and technical experts to Mines faculty & students as well as to external academic and industry partners.

What are the Goals of the SIF?

Mines’ Shared Instrumentation Facility (SIF) provides centralized oversight for the stewardship of key shared research instrumentation. Launched by the Office of Research & Technology Transfer in 2021 in response to the growing number of valuable shared instruments on campus, SIF provides a clear framework to support and sustain operation of and access to existing and future shared capabilities. This centralized framework seeks to address challenges in five key areas for large multi-user instrumentation: administration, staffing, maintenance and operations, awareness, and planning.

Specifically, SIF will

  • provide a stable support structure, both for the instrument operation and for the instrument managers
  • provide centralized administrative support to manage the instruments
  • create awareness of the instrumentation through a common website and other marketing to maximize the impact of the instruments
  • decrease overall maintenance costs by pooling the risk and negotiating lower-cost service agreements
  • providing an organized campus-wide approach to acquisition of new high-cost, multi-user capabilities and replacement/upgrading of such existing instruments as they age.

To download a copy of the SIF Policy document, click here:  SIF BYLAWS PDF

Shared Instrumentation Facility Board

Peter Aaen

Peter Aaen

Electrical Engineering

Steven DeCaluwe

Steven DeCaluwe

Mechanical Engineering

Corinne Packard

Corinne Packard

Metallurgical & Materials Engineering

Craig Brice

Craig Brice

Mechanical Engineering

Christopher Higgins

Christopher Higgins

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Meenakshi Singh

Meenakshi Singh

Physics

Tzahi Cath

Tzahi Cath

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Michael Kaufman

Michael Kaufman

Research & Tech Transfer

Colin Wolden

Colin Wolden

Chemical & Biological Engineering

Director & Specialists

David Diercks

David Diercks

SIF Director

Alex Dixon

Alex Dixon

Manager for Nanofabrication, Surface Characterization & Thin Film Deposition

Garrison Hommer

Garrison Hommer

Mechanical Testing Lab Manager

Praveen Kumar

Praveen Kumar

TEM & AFM Instruments Manager

Alex Liethen

Alex Liethen

LC-MS Lab Technician & Instrument Manager

Erin Sedlacko

Erin Sedlacko

LC-MS Lab Manager

Xerxes Steirer

Xerxes Steirer

X-Ray Facilities Lab Manager

Michael Walker

Michael Walker

TOF-SIMS Specialist

Gary Zito

Gary Zito

SEM Technical Expert