Initial Publication Date: November 8, 2016

The Montana Nanotechnology Facility (MONT)

The Montana Nanotechnology Facility at Montana State University (MONT) is one of 16 sites that comprise the NSF-supported National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure program. The NNCI consortium includes researchers from academic institutions, the corporate sector, and government facilities. NNCI provides access to over 2000 instruments used in fabrication and characterization of materials on the nano-scale. NNCI/MONT are responding to the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) which is ".... a U.S. Government research and development (R&D) initiative involving 20 departments and independent agencies working together toward the shared vision of "a future in which the ability to understand and control matter at the nanoscale leads to a revolution in technology and industry that benefits society." See the 2016 NNI Strategic Plan to learn more about national research priorities related to nanotechnology/science.

The MONT facility integrates four research centers at Montana State University: the Montana Microfabrication Facility, Imaging and Chemical Analysis Laboratory, Center for Biofilm Engineering and Proteomics, Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry Facility. This association has enabled cutting edge research on engineeered and natural materials in all STEM disciplines (physics, chemistry, life sciences, Earth and environmental sciences, materials science, and allied engineering disciplines]. MONT welcomes new users to our facility--we can conduct initial "proof-of-concept" experiments, you can send samples for analysis, or plan to visit our facility and interact with staff to plan future research initiatives. We offer short courses for training of users of our instrumentation who aspire to work independently in our facility. For first-time users, we offer Project Initiation Grants to help get you started.

MONT Scheduled Activities

Mont offers a number of public events that may be of interest to the public.

Virtual Events

Webinar Series

Our webinar series is offered to keep our users and other interested colleagues up to date about new advances in Nanotechnology/Science, and updates on new opportunities and instrumentation in the MONT facility. These quarterly webinars cover a wide variety of topics, and you are invited to access the videos of past webinars:

  • Dr. Robin Gerlach, Applications of Raman Confocal Spectromicroscopy in Biogeochemistry, Geology, Materials Science and Engineering, February 22, 2019
     
  • Dr. Recep Avci, Applications of Integrated NanoAuger Probe in Materials Science, January 18, 2018  
     
  • Dr. David Dickensheets, From Microfluidics to Nano-optics: Building Devices in the Montana Microfabrication Facility, March 23, 2017  
     
  • Dr. Phil Stewart and Betsy Pitts, Imaging Microorganisms on Surfaces, December 7, 2016
  • Drs. Recep Avci and David Mogk, Material Characterization Using Electron Microscopy and Spectroscopy: Examples Using SEM, XPS and Auger, May 17, 2016  
     

Annual MONT Users' Meetings

  • 2019 Annual MONT meeting is scheduled for Monday June 13, 2019, afternoon. Details will be posted here when available.
  • 2018 Annual Mont Meeting, August 20, 2018, SUB Ballroom D
  • 2017 Join us for the Annual MONT Users Meeting, July 12, 2017, in the 407 Jabs Hall, Montana State University, Bozeman. Please register by July 10. We also invite your feedback about the Montana Nanotechnology Facility.
  • 2016 Join us for the Annual MONT Users Meeting, July 13, 2016, in the SUB Ballroom 235 at Montana State University, Bozeman. Please register by July 8.