$1M gift establishes endowment for case materials characterization laboratory
A $1 million grant from the Fred A. Lennon Charitable Trust means a new name and a lot more resources for a nationally renowned materials characterization facility at the Case School of Engineering. Previously known as the Centre for Surface Analysis of Materials, the centre will now bear the name of long-time Case corporate partner, Swagelok Company.
Now known as the Swagelok Centre for Surface Analysis of Materials, the centre is a multi-user analytical facility providing instrumentation for microstructural characterization of materials as well as surface and near-surface chemical analysis.
First established in 1974 as a centre for electron microscopy, the facility has served thousands of academic and industrial partners over the last quarter century. In 1986, the centre received a grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)—matched by funds from the state of Ohio —which allowed it to substantially expand operations.
Since that time, major funding from the state and the National Science Foundation have allowed it to continue to upgrade and expand.According to centre director Arthur H. Heuer, this new funding from the Lennon Trust helps secure the centre's future.
"We have close to 200 academic and industrial users in any given year, and these individuals have become accustomed to the highest quality equipment and service," said Heuer, University Professor and Kyocera Professor of Materials Science at Case and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. "This funding ensures that we can continue to offer state-of-the-art instrumentation and Ph.D.-level staff engineers."
The Lennon Trust was formed upon the death of Swagelok's founder, Fred A. Lennon. It is a charitable trust dedicated to education, health care, and economic development in northeast Ohio.
