Small Science Firm with Ties to SC Wins Big in Europe

MVA Scientific Consultants, an Atlanta-based microscopy firm with clients and ties to South Carolina, has scored yet another coup in Europe. Back in November the Firm was named the US Demo and Support Site for the British-developed Nano-Test- a new technology used for the surface characterization of materials at the nano-scale level—about 100,000th the width of a human hair. Now the Firm has developed a strategic alliance with WITec Inc.— a German-based manufacturer of high performance optical and scanning instrumentation for scientific and industrial applications.

The deal designates MVA Scientific Consultants as the official North American Demonstration and Support site for WITec’s new Confocal Raman Microscope. This instrument offers the unique ability to acquire high-resolution chemical information in a non-destructive way. MVA Scientific Consultants will be among the first commercial laboratories in the U.S. with the new instrument. It is expected that a number of science and technology leaders from across the country will visit the Firm’s facilities to learn more about the instrument and its applications.

The Firm also hopes to utilize the new technology to support the QA/QC and R&D projects of its clients, many of whom are located in South Carolina. “The new instrument and related techniques will be a real benefit to our clients”, says Dr. Tim Vander Wood, Managing Director at the Firm. “We especially believe that it will prove useful with polymers and thin films, which are important to pharmaceutical, medical devices and other manufacturing industries,” Vander Wood added.

MVA Scientific Consultants has served many clients in the Palmetto State including Santee Cooper, BMW Manufacturing, Davis & Floyd, Fuji Film, Goodrich Corporation, Lockheed-Martin Aircraft, Milliken, Sonoco Products and several others. Additionally the Firm boasts strong personal roots to the state: co-founder and Executive Director Dr. Tim B. Vander Wood is a native of Greenville; Senior Research Scientist Randy Boltin is from Columbia and Tony Cooper, the Firm’s Director of Marketing and Communications, hails from Darlington.

For more information on the Confocal Raman Microscope at MVA Scientific Consultants, please contact Dr. Tim B. Vander Wood at tvanderwood@mvainc.com.

ABOUT MVA SCIENTIFIC CONSULTANTS:

MVA Scientific Consultants provides critical analysis and support for a variety of public and private sector interests through the use of electron and light microscopy. Clients from across the world seek out the Firm to help address unique challenges involving QA/QC, litigation, industrial hygiene, environmental forensics and a host of other issues.