The Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering’s Research Service Centers support and enhance the research, education, and public service missions of the University of Florida by providing access to characterization and process instrumentation. Expert staff provides the assistance and guidance necessary for industry, faculty, and students to use the center’s facilities most effectively and appropriately.
Nanoscale Research Facility
352-846-2626 | nrfinfo@mail.ufl.edu
The Nanoscale Research Facility is a campus-wide resource, different from the normal model of departmental research labs. The NRF supports not just a single discipline but instead stimulates interaction among the disciplines. Core research facilities and labs are established in NRF, and scientists from all colleges work together and share the tools.
The NRF is a two-story building with seven functional areas:
- A Class 100-1000 cleanroom facility for nanofabrication and bioprocessing
- Advanced electron, optical, and surface imaging laboratories
- Core research laboratories for synthesis, processing, characterization, assembly, and testing of nanoscale materials, devices and sensors
- General laboratory space for interdisciplinary research collaborations
- Offices for faculty, staff and users
- Interactive spaces for conferences, informal gatherings, user administration, and surroundings conducive to multidisciplinary interactions
- Building support and utility handling areas
Particle Analysis Instrumentation Center
352-392-6985 | paicinfo@mail.ufl.edu
The Particle Analysis Instrumentation Center (PAIC) grew out of a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center into one of the premier particle characterization facilities in the US. The PAIC provides the instrumentation and expertise to synthesize and characterize particulate systems for a wide variety of applications across a broad range of industries. There are over 20 instruments available for analyzing particle size, shape, surface, and bulk powder properties, along with spectroscopic, imaging, and analytical instrumentation for chemical analysis and systems characterization.
HiPerGator
HiPerGator is a university supercomputer that is one of the most powerful among public U.S. universities and the world. The 51,000-core cluster includes the latest generation of processors and offers up nodes for memory-intensive computations. The facility is supported by staff that provides infrastructure, proposal, and consulting support to give researchers a competitive edge.
Nuclear Fuels and Materials Characterization Facility (NFMC)
The Nuclear Fuels and Materials Characterization Facility (NFMC) at the University of Florida offers users both the equipment approved for radiological use and the necessary staff needed to support the work. NFMC is set up to handle both irradiated materials and fuels with doses up to 300 mR/hr at contact. Our currently available equipment includes:
- FEI Helios Nanolab 600 dual-beam focused ion beam/scanning electron microscope (FIB/SEM), equipped with
- EDAX Velocity electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD) and Octane Elite energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) detectors
- Hysitron PI88 SEM PicoIndenter with heating option (up to 800C) and extended range transducer (>500 mN)
- FEI Tecnai F20 scanning transmission electron microscope (S/TEM) equipped with Gatan UltraScan 1000P camera and EDAX r-TEM super ultra-thin window Si(Li) EDS system.
Take a virtual tour of the NFMC
UF Training Reactor
Constructed in 1959, the UF Training Reactor (UFTR) was one of the first nuclear reactors on a university campus. Today, it is one of fewer than 30 such reactors used for education, training, research, and testing at colleges and universities around the United States.
The Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering uses the reactor to train students to operate reactors and for laboratory courses in nuclear engineering, physics, chemistry, geology, and environmental engineering. The reactor also serves as a radiation/neutron source for various research programs and experiments, such as trace element analysis of ocean sediments, soil sediments, plants, and biological materials.
Reactor type
Heterogeneous ARGONAUT type
Licensed rated power level
100 kW thermal
Maximum thermal flux
1.5×1012 n/cm2sec
Reflector
Graphite (1.6 g/cm3)
Moderator
H2O and graphite
Experiments
Neutron irradiations; neutron activation analysis; neutron radiography, including real-time radiography; detection system use