Aspex
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article or section is written like an advertisement. Please help rewrite this article from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising which would require a fundamental rewrite in order to become encyclopedic for speedy deletion, using {{db-spam}}. (June 2008) |
Aspex Corporation | |
---|---|
Type | Privately held company |
Founded | 1992 |
Headquarters | Delmont, PA, USA |
Area served | global |
Key people | Harry Shimp, CEO Greg Ott, President |
Industry | Scientific and Technical Instruments |
Products | Scanning Electron Microscope |
Website | www.aspexcorp.com |
Aspex Corporation, originally founded in 1992, is a supplier of electron microscopy tools to researchers, developers and manufacturers working on Process control through automated Scanning Electron Microscope and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.
ASPEX is the only provider of a single integrated Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy with an electron microscope, which allows the company to develop unique automated algorithms for routine production monitoring and control. Aspex's microanalysis solutions are seen in a wide range of production environments, including critical cleanliness, microcontamination analysis, product purity, contamination diagnostics, predictive maintenance, and other statistical process control initiatives.[1] While competitors of Aspex specialize in achieving ultimate imaging resolution, Aspex units have clearly taken a different approach. Their instruments are more industrialized then standard SEM equipment. You will typically find them installed in non-traditional locations, like steel mills and automotive assembly lines. The most common usage revolves around automated feature analysis for particle characterization, which can automatically characterize particles (size, shape, elemental composition) on a substrate ranging in size from 0.03 um to 5 mm in diameter.
Contents |
[edit] Market Divisions
- Steel, which includes a broad range of steel producers and universities interested improving the production process through Non-metallic inclusions content control.[2]
- Pharmaceuticals, which includes developers and manufacturers of pharmaceutical products, Medical devices, and new drug delivery tools.[3]
- Forensics, which includes institutes, universities, crime labs conducting various Trace evidence applications and Gun Shot Residue Analysis.
- Military, which customized field deployable units to monitor jet engine wear debris and Predictive maintenance on military aircraft.
- Automotive, which includes automotive suppliers and producers interested in characterizing the Parts cleaning practices and the critical cleanliness of components and assemblies.
[edit] Locations
Aspex Corporation maintains research and development and sales operations in Delmont, Pennsylvania.
[edit] History
The origins of Aspex Corporation date back to 1992 (formally a division of RJ Lee Group, Inc.) where developers recognized the limitations and costs associated with traditional scanning electron microscopy (SEM). As a result, the company developed and introduced the world's first "personalized" SEM, or PSEM. The timing of the introduction coincided with a number of important trends, including increased emphasis on materials characterization, the outsourcing of R&D applications to service laboratories, and the "quality revolution" of the 1990s. Since then, Aspex has continued to develop various industrialized SEMs for quality and process control purposes.
[edit] Competitors
- Hitachi
- JEOL, Inc.
- TESCAN
- Carl Zeiss NTS GmbH
[edit] References
1. Fred Schamber and Kai van Beek, "A ‘Different’ Kind of Microscopy", Microscopy Today, January 2007.
2. Timothy J. Drake, et al. "Development of an High-Throughput Inclusion Analyzer for Process Control and Optimization", AISTech, Proceedings May 2008.
3. David Castaldo, "Identification of Foreign Particles Below 10 Microns Key to Inhaled Drug Quality", Pharmaceutical Processing, May 2004.