TOUR OF McCRONE ASSOCIATES

Thursday, October 21, 2004

McCrone Associates is an independently owned company located at the eastern edge of Illinois' technology corridor. Its razor sharp staff and state of the art scientific equipment and clean room facilities provide the essential environment for federal and local governmental and commercial problem analyses. As in the most recent past, and now the future, McCrone Associates is also dedicated to education, both by teaching courses on various aspects of microscopy that range from light to electron, and by generously offering its expert staff and facilities to educators and students. Plan to catch the wave of the future in microscopy. At McCrone Associates the future is NOW!

Minutes of October 21, 2004: Tour of McCrone Associates

Events began at Connie's Pizza in Westmont, where members enjoyed dinner compliments of McCrone Associates.

President Bill Mikuska took the opportunity to make several announcements, which included a reminder of the date and topic of the SMSI's November meeting, as well as a notice of an upcoming S.P.I.E. meeting on the history of glass. Finally, Bill reminded members that the Society was starting a class in Polarized Light Microscopy at Argonne National Laboratory on November 6. The upcoming class, designed for teachers, would continue in the tradition of classes offered by the Society for many years, but would be the first to result in graduate level credit being awarded to those successfully completing the course.

The meeting reconvened at McCrone Associates, where Richard Bisbing, recently promoted to Executive Vice President and Director of Services, made a presentation regarding the organization, which is based on a business model proposed by Dr. Walter McCrone. A close collaboration between three branches-consulting, education, and instrument sales-helps to make McCrone Associates uniquely able to handle specialized tasks.

Dr. Bisbing was happy to announce plans for expansion to McCrone Associates. This includes a sizable addition to the building which will house, among other things, offices, an auditorium, and classrooms of the McCrone College of Microscopy.

A mention was made of the newest form of the Particle Atlas, a soon-to-be available electronic version which will be accessible through the McCrone Associates' website. John Delly, co-author of the original Particle Atlas, a long-time friend of the Society, and former SMSI Annual Award Recipient, has rejoined the staff of McCrone Associates as a scientific advisor, tackling this monumental project.

The evening concluded with a tour of the McCrone Associates facility. Small groups were escorted by McCrone Associates staff members. We thank Don Brooks, Richard Bisbing, Hazel Bales, Barbara Blaum, Chuck Zona, Kent Rhodes, Dina Mattes, and Gretchen Shearer for their efforts in making the evening a success.

Respectfully submitted, Robert Kuksuk, Recording Secretary