Hacienda Expansion Evidences Gatan's Massive Growth

Company Designs, Manufactures a Variety of Products Used in Electron Microscopy

Energy is high at Gatan Inc. as the company prepares for a November move to expanded corporate headquarters at 5794 West Las Positas Boulevard. Gatan's 94 employees, up from 62 just three years ago, will now have ample space to design and create state-of-the-art instruments and products for electron microscopes.

To add to the excitement, the recognized industry leader recently announced partnership with other scientific instrument companies Photometrics®, Media Cybernetics® and QImaging® in the Microimaging Applications Group (MAG) conglomerate. The four technology partners will work independently as well as in synergy to offer an unparalleled range of microimaging applications, worldwide.

In 2006-2007, Gatan introduced innovative products, such as 3View™ and XuM, that extended its reach into 3-dimensional microscopy for both biological and material science applications.

Gatan's products are fully compatible with all brands of electron microscopes and encompass the complete process, from specimen preparation and manipulations to imaging and analysis. Its customer base is comprised of users of analytical instrumentation found most often in industrial, governmental and academic laboratories. Applications include metallurgy, ceramics, semiconductors, microelectronics, biological science, healthcare, food and pharmaceutical industries, nanomaterials research and biotechnology. Gatan, Inc. is a member of the Advance Microscopy Group (AMG) of the Scientific and Industrial Imaging division of Roper Industries, Inc.

Peter and Rex Swann incorporated Gatan in Pennsylvania in 1964. For the first fifteen years, the company focused on contract manufacturing involving high-precision machining. In 1979, Gatan introduced its first major product for the electron microscope market, the DuoMill, a high-precision ion-milling system used to thin a specimen to electron transparency so that it could be successfully viewed in an electron microscope.

During the next five years, Gatan continued to expand its specimen preparation and manipulation product offerings, becoming the preeminent supplier to microscope manufacturers and end users. In 1985, the company substantially expanded its technology and products into analytical applications with the introduction of the first parallel electron energy loss spectrometer (PEELS) and, in 1995, added computer automation with the introduction of DigiPEELS. In subsequent years, the company introduced the first Gatan Imaging Filters (GIF) as well as the first commercial slow-scan CCD cameras which greatly changed the way that electron microscopy was done.

Today, Gatan is the market leader in designing and manufacturing advanced instruments for electron microscopes.

"Though Gatan is recognized as the leader in the industry, we will never be complacent," says President Tom Connelly, Ph.D. "Our new, expansive facility will allow us to continue our aggressive, ongoing effort to produce innovative EM (electron microscope) instruments and expand our reach into peripheral markets."

"Many of our employees live in Pleasanton and the surrounding area. We love the community, so it was important to us to stay in Pleasanton, specifically in the Hacienda corporate areas."

Photo: Richard J. Mitro, a Gatan product manager, with the company's Precision Etching Coating System (PECS), an ion beam etching system.

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