William “Tim” Turner, ‘82 BSEE, ’92 MEMBA, and co-founder of WaveFront Sciences (now part of Abbott Medical Optics), has worked on countless high tech computer-controlled instrumentation projects for Sandia National Labs and the International Space Station. He knows well the cost of highly specialized equipment. Recently, Turner generously donated a WaveFront tool that allows for the precise measurement of the “flatness” of a semiconductor wafer. This is especially useful for the infrared focal plane arrays that are being developed at the UNM Center for High Technology Materials.
According to Turner, “While this product was no longer being pursued commercially due to business direction changes, we still felt that the prototype was an exquisite instrument that could provide a great deal of value to the right user. One of Abbott’s core values is giving back to our community, so as a UNM alumnus, I was very excited to learn that the UNM CHTM could use this instrument to support the advancement of their research.”
Steven Brueck, CHTM Director and Sanjay Krishna, CHTM Associate Director, are grateful that Turner and AMO WaveFront selected CHTM to give back to the community. As they explain, “Very expensive, unique equipment is critical to the success of many of the research projects at the Center for High Technology Materials. In-kind donations of specialized equipment from industries like AMO WaveFront and from New Mexico’s national labs fill a critical void that allows us to leverage contract dollars and increase productivity.”