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More about The Guide

What is The Capability Guide?

The University of Warwick has over 600 academics and 200 technicians who regularly analyse the properties of a wide range of materials, from metals to ceramics to polymers to DNA to proteins, making use of the more than 20 000 items of measurement equipment on campus for this purpose.

These analysis instruments range from a humble ruler, voltmeter or oscilloscope up to multimillion-pound electron microscopes and mass-spectrometers, which are spread across the ~ 30 departments that make up the university.

Together these instruments working with their experienced technical operators, can be used to measure many material properties, for example temperature, strength, structure, chemistry, shape, size, surface texture and roughness, smell, composition and even taste.

To demonstrate our wide analysis capabilities, we have brought together some of the analysis methods most commonly used here at University of Warwick and regularly employed to promote understanding of materials properties, indicating what problems they are commonly used to solve and on what material types.

This ‘Analytical Capability Guide’ provides a number of methods to search amongst these more common analysis techniques and to find a solution to a particular materials problem - for example, a key word search allows search by measurement method (‘XRD’), sample type (‘Solid’), equipment brand, or even problem (‘I need to identify a type of oil’).

After entering keywords, a number of more detailed analysis methods will be presented, showing further details of how the main applications and results outputs of a number of relevant techniques.

As the saying goes ‘seeing is believing’ – at University of Warwick, we have the analysis equipment, methods and experience to enable any property of a material to be measured, and hence seen and understood.

Hiring or using the equipment and expertise

The University of Warwick welcomes approaches from external groups seeking solutions to its materials problems.

We offer a fully comprehensive material analysis solution across a variety of analysis methods, including expert aid from a relevant academic, operation of the equipment by a skilled experienced technician, and finally the generation of a fully comprehensive report.

Extensive consultation at all stages with the external group is used to ensure requirements, the correct analysis method is used, the equipment calibration and operation are correct, to ensure results are fully accurate and needs are met.

Please use this guide as an indication of the main areas where Warwick possesses expertise. However, it is not designed to be fully comprehensive and we welcome direct dialogue to further understand your challenge and design an analysis solution to suit your needs.

Contact Us:

For further information on the capabilities of the University of Warwick to understand your materials and your analysis challenges, please contact:

Dr Ian Hancox, Business Engagement Unit, Research Support Services, 024 76 150 577, i.hancox@warwick.ac.uk


A-Z glossary
of analytical techniques

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Equipment image gallery