Instrument & Electronics Services Core

ABSTRACT - INSTRUMENT AND ELECTRONICS SERVICES CORE The Instrument and Electronics Services Core (IESC) will provide support for NEI-R01 funded research at the University of Michigan through a variety of design, fabrication, and maintenance services. This Core will be staffed by a full-time electronic engineer and a full-time instrument maker. IESC will enhance the research environment by working closely with investigators from disparate scientific areas of vision research to design and construct unique, non-commercially available, electronic systems and mechanical instruments that are required to successfully complete NEI-supported research projects. In addition to supporting on-going projects, IESC’s expertise will facilitate the research programs of investigators preparing to become PIs on NEI grants. In addition to design and fabrication services, IESC will provide a critical support role related to maintenance and repair of equipment in PI labs or other Center Cores, which will minimize disruption to experiments and improve the rigor of research output. This will include maintaining software and databases as well as computers that are dedicated to running particular instrument systems but are not maintained by university information technology services. IESC will be formed from two existing Cores with a long history of contributions to NEI-supported research projects. Mechanical components will be built in the instrument shop, equipped with a Sharp CNC (computer numerical control) lathe, Bridgeport CNC milling machine, a metal vertical band saw, a Tennsmith squaring shear, a Tennsmith hand brake, and access to a Zortrax M200 3D printer. To aid in instrument design and to increase efficiency in fabrication processes, IESC will utilize the SolidWorks CAD system. In the electronics lab, IESC will have a full complement of electronic test equipment, light meters, computer hardware and software to support research, including Tektronix oscilloscopes, general purpose pulse/function generators, power supplies and breadboards, programmers for programmable memory and logic devices, multimeters and logic probes, Windows and Macintosh computers, spectrophotometer, and A/D and D/A boards for program development, measurement, and testing purposes. Programming software will include C, LabVIEW, and MATLAB. During the prior funding period, the Instrument Shop Core was extensively or moderately utilized by 10 participating investigators, while the Electronics and Computer Core was heavily or moderately utilized by 8 participating investigators. 12 participating investigators anticipate using IESC to a moderate or extensive degree in the next funding period.