Partnership with Hitachi Brings Electron Microscope to Valencia High

Omni Nano is proud to announce our new collaboration with Hitachi, which will bring a powerful scanning electron microscope (SEM) into high schools’ classrooms, providing students with the rare opportunity to explore the world at the nanoscale. We started today at Valencia High School. Over the next several weeks, students in Valencia High’s nanochemistry classes will take a deep dive into nanoscale microscopy and learn how to prepare, view, and image samples of the super-tiny objects they’re learning about.

SEMs are advanced microscopes that are commonly found in modern nanotechnology/STEM laboratories and at top research universities, but are typically too cost-prohibitive for high schools. While more affordable optical microscopes can be found in high schools across the country, they are not powerful enough to visualize the nanoscale.

Nanochemistry is the sub-discipline of nanoscience that explores the intersection of chemistry and nanotechnology. A lot of students have had difficulty grasping relative size at scales not visible to the human eye. For example, an antibody and a red blood cell are both thought of as “small biological objects,” but an antibody can be 1,000 times smaller than a red blood cell! Hitachi’s desktop SEM can easily image sub-micron objects (i.e., objects smaller than 1 micrometer) including those explored by nanochemistry, allowing for deeper comprehension and more impactful learning.

Through this partnership, Hitachi and Omni Nano are inspiring local students to become future engineers, scientists, and other innovators. By providing Valencia High’s nanochemistry students the unique chance to visualize and “photograph” the tiny world they’re learning about in class, Hitachi is taking the first step to train them with the highly sought-after, résumé-worthy modern science skill of operating an SEM.

Thank you, Hitachi, for making the difference! Because of your support, hundreds more students are benefiting from learning nano. For most, this is an opportunity they otherwise would have never experienced.