STUDENTS at an Oxfordshire college will be looking at things in a whole new way, after getting their hands on a special piece of kit.
UTC Oxfordshire has had a scanning electron microscope (SEM) installed, one of a handful in UK schools and colleges.
The microscope is able to magnify specimens up to 300,000 times by scanning with a focused beam of electrons.
Chris Spencer, whose son Samuel is a Year 11 pupil at UTC, was instrumental in securing the microscope.
Mr Spencer works as a field service engineer at JEOL UK, with the company approached by the University of Southampton, which was upgrading its microscope.
JEOL organised transportation of the 680kg equipment to his home in Wantage.
Repairs and modifications were made, and after complications arising due to the coronavirus pandemic, the microscope was installed.
Mr Spencer, who will be maintaining and servicing the microscope, said: “If you look at any of the newer equipment used in universities, it is of a similar standard.
“A new instrument of this type would cost in the region of £130,000.”
Samantha Knowlton, principal at UTC Oxfordshire, added: “This is a really exciting aspect of science and engineering and allows students to use a high-grade instrument normally reserved for university students or in industry.
“This is what the UTC is all about – giving opportunity for students to have hands on experience and application of real apparatus and not just a view of images in a textbook or video.”
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