RISE Microscopy reaches the winner’s podium in TASIAs 2014

The Analytical Scientist Innovation Awards (TASIAs) recognise top innovations in the field of analytical chemistry. A jury of three independent experts and The Analytical Scientist editorial team chose the Raman Imaging and Scanning Electron (RISE) Microscope from the German microscope manufacturer WITec as the second 2014 TASIA winner.

RISE Microscopy is a novel correlative microscopy technique that combines confocal Raman Imaging and Scanning Electron Microscopy. It is a joint development of WITec and the Czech electron microscopy company TESCAN. “RISE Microscopy enables for the first time the acquisition of SEM and Raman images from the same sample area and the correlation of ultra-structural and chemical information with one microscope system. It accelerates the research workflow significantly as it reduces the time-consuming sample transfer between different systems,” explained Dr Olaf Hollricher, CEO and Director R&D at WITec.

“The correlative nature can provide new answers and findings for challenging material characterisation problems in pharmaceutical, geo, nano-carbon or semiconductor research to name just a few of the potential fields of application,” added Harald Fischer, WITec Marketing Director “The RISE Microscope is another striking example of WITec’s enormous innovative strength and we are very pleased that it convinced the TASIA jury.”

Rich Whitworth, Editor of The Analytical Scientist, said: “Our first TASIAs in 2013 set a worryingly high benchmark for all subsequent awards. I am delighted to report that the 2014 TASIAs easily hit that benchmark.” The judges honoured RISE Microscopy as “a high-tech tool for materials science that allows molecules to be studied in their ‘context’.”