Mission: To Improve Your Product and Enhance Your Productivity
Anderson Materials Evaluation, Inc. offers a broad spectrum of materials analytical services to help you shoulder the burdens of materials development and characterization, process and product development, quality control, and failure analysis. We also provide research, consultative, and expert witness services. We collaborate with you to help develop goal-directed solutions to your metal, semiconductor, glass, polymer, inorganic and organic chemical, ceramic, composite, mineral, and contaminant material problems. We can simply perform an assigned analysis. Alternatively, we are delighted to discuss the background of your problem, help you define the tasks necessary to address your problem, produce the needed analysis, and discuss the solution pathway elucidated by the analytical results obtained. After solving or better identifying the problem, we may suggest longer-term R & D for greater benefits.
We produce written reports to ensure that you can fully understand and independently examine the analytical results and conclusions. This establishes a documented history for future process and product development and control issues. Such problems that arise in production often have a tendency to reoccur, so it is important that they be documented and archived. Contact Dr. Charles R. Anderson, Dr. Lorrie Krebs or another scientific staff member to discuss how we can help you create value by addressing your materials' problems. Our surface analysis, SEM/EDX, microscopy, thermal analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy, and electrochemical measurement capabilities give us many powerful tools to apply to your materials and process evaluations. We are your path to replacing speculation with understanding, whether your problem is due to contamination, corrosion, process control, vendor error, unknown properties of new materials, a new property requirement, or the usual unruly suspects.
History
In 1995, when Lockheed Martin closed its Baltimore Laboratories, Dr. Charles R. Anderson acquired the XPS / ESCA, Auger microprobe, microscopy, and mass spectroscopy equipment he had used there in the Surface Analysis Laboratory. He started Anderson Materials Evaluation, Inc. in order to offer high-quality materials problem-solving service to a wider range of customers than he could at Lockheed Martin. We are very grateful to our early customers for their support, which allowed us to add thermal analysis, SEM, and further microscopy services. Over the years, we have acquired the services of several very qualified experts in a number of the analytical materials sciences both on our staff and as consultants and sub-contractors. As a result, we have added expertise and capabilities such as potentiostatic and galvanostatic measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and corrosion failure analysis. We are constantly expanding the number of our in-house proprietary analytical procedures and ASTM standards which we are prepared to perform for our clients. Our custom and in-house proprietary analytical procedures were developed as a result of the deep knowledge and experience of our staff in their specialty areas and our keen insight into the means to marshall multiple techniques to solve materials problems.
In 2003, we moved into an improved facility with 80% more space in Columbia, MD, nearer to midway between Baltimore and Washington, DC. In 2005, we added a JASCO FTIR spectrometer with both Specac Golden Gate ATR and Pike Technologies VEEMAX II specular reflectance accessories to strengthen our near-surface and surface analysis capabilities, particularly for polymers and organic materials. In early 2006, we took delivery on a computer, interface, and software upgrade to our thermal analysis suite of instruments. In 2007, we added a huge database of FTIR spectra, upgraded our XPS system computers, software, and interfaces, and purchased a new potentiodynamic system for added electrochemistry capabilities, including EIS investigations of films and coatings. In 2008, we purchased a Robinson backscatter electron detector for the SEM to be able to detect atomic mass differences, sharpen edge images, and distinguish organic materials. Also in 2008, Dr. Lorrie Krebs became a co-owner of the laboratories. In 2009, we purchased an EDX system for our SEM. We are now designing our laboratories and offices for a move into a new facility in Columbia, MD with 50% more space and many improvements in layout. With the support of our many faithful customers and our dedicated staff, we will continue to add to our expertise and capabilities to better address more of the analytical and testing requirements of our community of engineering, chemical, and biomedical device and pharmaceutical materials users.
Dr. Anderson is the founder of AME and is a co-owner of the company. Dr. Anderson has long specialized in the characterization of surfaces, interfaces, thin films, and coatings. He began applying surface analysis techniques to the solution of materials problems in 1972 with the use of Auger spectroscopy and Mössbauer emission spectroscopy to characterize the magnetic properties of surfaces. Since 1980, he has used XPS or ESCA extensively for the analysis of materials properties, often combining XPS and Auger results with those of other techniques such as microscopy, DSC, SEM, FTIR, EXAFS, Rutherford backscattering, electrochemistry, thermogravimetry, SEM, and XRD to solve complex materials problems. He has had a wealth of experience with surface chemical phase identifications, corrosion, battery development, adhesive failures, contamination, electronic packaging, thin film and bulk materials composition, composite interfaces, particle and sintered ceramic surfaces, surface oxidation and degradation, and many other applications of surface analysis. He has served as an officer of the ASTM Committee E-42 on Surface Analysis and an U.S. Expert on several sub-committees of the ISO Technical Committee 201 on Surface Chemical Analysis. He worked for Case Western Reserve University as a post-doctoral fellow, the Dept. of the Navy as a research physicist, and Martin Marietta and Lockheed Martin as a senior scientist before founding AME, Inc. in 1995. Dr. Anderson especially enjoys integrating the results of multiple analytic techniques to solve tough materials problems. He has assembled a team of materials scientists and engineers with complementary skills and experience who all enjoy working together to solve challenging problems. He is or has been a member of AVS, ASM, MRS, ASTM, the Electrochemical Society, ACS, APS, and SAMPE.
Dr. Krebs joined AME in early 2002 and is a co-owner of the company. Dr. Krebs specializes in corrosion and degradation issues. She is experienced in materials testing and selection for corrosion mitigation in engineering applications, and in the evaluation of novel coating systems using a variety of testing procedures, and in corrosion-related failure analysis. Among her current interests is the development of new electrochemical testing techniques for AME, which currently include potentiodynamic, potentiostatic, and galvanostatic measurement capabilities. She commonly combines electrochemical analysis with other analytical techniques, such as XPS & SEM, in order to determine a more complete picture of corrosion, degradation, and other failure-related phenomena. In her dissertation work at the Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Krebs studied passivity and breakdown on iron and iron-alloys using traditional DC electrochemical techniques in combination with spin-polarized neutron reflectivity and x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). As an Army Research Laboratory Fellow, she used electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in laboratory and field tests to evaluate non-chromate conversion coatings as potential replacements for the then current chromate conversion coating. In her work at DACCO SCI INC., she was involved in the development of patented in-situ corrosion sensor technology based on EIS techniques. She was also principal investigator for a National Science Foundation Phase I SBIR program investigating Electrochemical Brush Patination, a repair technique for patina on outdoor art objects utilizing a variety of electrochemical techniques and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to formulate and study artificially grown patinas. In addition to her work at AME, Dr. Krebs has served as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Physical Sciences at Villa Julie College, now Stevenson University.
Stephanie Roberg joined AME in December 2008. Since joining AME Ms. Roberg has performed optical microscopy, SEM/EDX, FTIR, and thermal analyses. Previously, she completed a student internship at AME in which she focused on SEM and XPS analyses. Ms. Roberg earned a B.S. in Biology from Villa Julie College (now Stevenson University). Her research work focused on the differentiation process of embryonic mouse stem cells. Ms. Roberg then earned an M.S. in Forensic Science from Stevenson University. While working in this program she completed an internship in the biology unit of the Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division as well as in the firearms unit of the Baltimore City Crime Laboratory. Her thesis work focused on the feasibility of using reference ballistic imaging databases as crime solving tools. This research was carried out using statistical analysis.
Dhruval Patel graduated from University of Maryland, College Park with B.S. in Computer Engineering. He is the webmaster, computer technician, and network administrator at AME, Inc. He has experience in HTML, Javascript, Java, C, Ruby, OCAML, computer maintenance, and troubleshooting. He interned at Hughes Network Systems in Summer 2007 where he helped setup a lab which included two database servers with Oracle 10.2 and six application servers running Red Hat Linux using NFS protocol. At Hughes Network System, he also assisted in writing, testing, and debugging in Java using Eclipse IDE. Dhruval also had researched for Dr. Abshire at University of Maryland, College Park during Summer 2008 to modify a printer to use for bio-cell printing.
Dr. Murray, a NACE Fellow, has over 40 years of basic and applied electrochemistry experience. He worked for Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co. and Teledyne Corp. on fuel cell, battery, and high purity hydrogen gas production R & D efforts. For many years he worked with the then new technique of gas/liquid chromatography as a research chemist. His Ph.D. thesis in Material Science and Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University was on the use of Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) to perform in-situ evaluations of the soil corrosion of coated pipeline materials and completed in 1988. From 1989 until 1999, he worked for the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center on many applied corrosion problems and longer term development programs on indium-activated aluminum alloy sacrificial anodes and U. S. Navy paint degradation characterizations. Dr. Murray has developed and taught short courses on corrosion, including a one-day section on EIS evaluations of painted metals and corrosion problems, at the Pennsylvania State University. He has also taught a one-semester continuing education course in Industrial Electrochemistry at the Johns Hopkins University. He now serves as an active consultant through his company Murray's et al.
Francis C. Burns, Ph.D.
Dr. Burns is a physical chemist with expertise in spectroscopy, microscopy, surface science, adhesion, interfaces, and failure analysis (particularly of interfaces). He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. At Wisconsin, he did his thesis work on the electronic structure of silicon containing organic-transition metal complexes using molecular quantum mechanics and gas phase UV photoelectron spectroscopy. After graduate school, he held a postdoctoral position at IBM's San Jose (now Almaden) research lab. At San Jose, he studied the bonding of long chain fatty acids to metal and metal oxide surfaces using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy. Upon completion of his post doctoral work, he moved to IBM's Endicott, NY facility, where he developed analytical techniques involving spectroscopy (FTIR and UV-Vis) and wet chemical methods for inspection of incoming materials. While at Endicott, he entered the field of laser processing of materials, which he stayed in until he arrived at Hewlett Packard's research lab for ink jet technology in Corvallis, OR. At Corvallis, he used his expertise in XPS, micro-FTIR, optical microscopy, laser scanning microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive x-ray analysis in performing failure analysis on thermal ink jet pens. The failure analysis involved contaminant identification and elimination, interface (polymer-polymer and polymer-metal) failures, and the effect of various chemical environments on adhesion. In July 2007, Dr. Burns joined AME to further pursue his interest in surface science, spectroscopy, and microscopy.
Nancy L. Swanson, Ph.D.
Dr. Swanson is an optical physicist with particular expertise in radiative transport and the Mie theory of optical scattering. Applications to particle sizing and micro- and nano-particle purity are a special interest. She has authored over 30 scientific publications, holds three patents, and has a patent pending. Dr. Swanson worked for the Department of the Navy at both the Coastal Systems Center in Panama City, FL and the Naval Surface Warface Center in Dahlgren, VA for 11 years. She is now a Research Associate in the Physics Department at Western Washington University. She also owns Abacus Enterprises, a firm offering consulting services in the physics and engineering of optical systems.
Antonio Martinez, Ph.D.
Materials physicist specializing in the determination of surface and film characteristics by advanced x-ray diffraction techniques. He is an expert in the identification of chemical phases, high resolution thin film diffractometry, reflectrometry for multi-layered thin film structure analysis, and strain and texture characterizations. He was previously a research physicist at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, White Oak, and is now the Director of the XRD Facility at the Materials Characterization Center of the University of Puerto Rico.
Tim Topoleski, Ph.D.
Dr. Topoleski's expertise is in the mechanics of materials, from both a mechanical engineering and a materials science approach. He has extensive background in materials property testing, including fatigue and fracture properties, and surface preparation of metals, ceramics, and polymers. He also has considerable experience in materials failure analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and surface roughness and wear analysis. He has served as a consultant for forensic medical device failure, as a consultant to the FDA on medical device and materials testing, and as an FDA panel member for the approval of new devices. Dr. Topoleski is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UMBC.
Paul Cohen, M.S.
Metallurgical engineer with major interests in materials evaluation and the failure analysis of metallic and non-metallic materials. Mr. Cohen has extensive expertise in SEM/EDS and metallographic microscopy investigations, particularly for the automotive, power, electronics, and defense industries. In addition, he has experience with non-destructive evaluation techniques such as ultrasonic, liquid penetrant, magnetic particle, and eddy current testing. He is a Fellow Engineer in materials engineering with Northrop Grumman Corporation, Electronic Systems.
Anderson Materials Evaluation, Inc. is located in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. We are located on Red Branch Road off of State Route 108 in Columbia, MD, which is southwest of Baltimore and north of Washington, D.C. We are about 18 minutes from BWI Airport.
We periodically evaluate candidates for a professional staff scientist or engineer position. Candidates with a broad interest in the characterization of applied solid materials and having a degree in a relevant scientific field such as materials science and engineering, chemistry, physics, polymolecular science, chemical engineering, or electrical engineering are preferred. U.S. Department of State and Department of Labor regulations make it difficult for us to employ foreign nationals.
AME is a small, independent materials analysis laboratory. Every professional staff member is expected to assume the responsibility to complete and bill out sufficient analytical work to cover their employment costs and a fair portion of the laboratory overhead operations costs. This is a for-profit laboratory, which means that we offer our best effort in services for reasonable remuneration. We must deliver such an enhanced knowledge to our customers about their materials that they will choose to return to us for their future analyses. We must also see their emergencies as our emergencies. Every member of the staff is expected to understand the important role of the entrepreneur in a society that would be free. You are to be that entrepreneur as a project manager if you accept a position with AME.
Our professional staff members work with a wide range of applied materials, materials under development, and many analytical techniques. We seek professional scientists/engineers with good problem-solving skills, strong self-initiative and self-management abilities, and good communication skills.
Our professional staff enjoy constant challenges by intellectually stimulating applied materials problem-solving tasks. We are materials detectives, whose attention to details and ability to see "The Big Picture", make us the scientific equivalent of Sherlock Holmes. Our work is fun! It is not, however, for weak minds and timid souls. We truly respect those who carry their weight in our laboratory.
The successful candidate should soon develop the ability to manage materials characterization projects from the point of contact with a customer, through discussions about what the client needs to learn from the analysis, planning the analysis program on suitable samples, acquiring and reducing data, interpreting the results to understand materials properties, writing a report explaining these to our client and how they have bearing on his problem or needs, and answering the client's questions.
We offer a good health benefit plan, flexible hours, and a respectful, collegial work atmosphere. We also provide you the opportunity to learn far more about materials and the means to characterize them than you will likely have an opportunity to do elsewhere. Materials and the physics and chemistry of materials are fascinating and complex. They provide a most rewarding professional challenge.
Please send resumes to Dr. Charles R. Anderson. Your subject line should clearly indicate your interest in a professional position. Emails without clearly identified subjects are deleted as spam.
