Materials facilities in STEMLab

Find out more about the labs and equipment we offer in STEMLab.

Materials Lab

This is our main Materials teaching lab. It has a range of testing equipment – including furnaces and fume cupboards – helping you to study materials' behaviour and properties. 

Some of the equipment you might use, include:

Impact tester equipment
Impact Tester for performing Charpy impact tests on metal samples
impact tester equipment for metal materials
Impact tester for performing Charpy impact tests on polymer samples
tensile tester equipment
Tinus Olsen tensile tester for polymer samples and 3-point bending tests
tensile tester equipment with students
Tensile tester suited for specimens needing measurement at low load ranges
tensile tester equipment
Torsion testing machine with VDAS data capture for computer analysis
hardness tester equipment
Hardness tester

Microscope Lab

Our Microscope Lab is equipped with the latest optical microscopes, benchtop scanning electron microscopes, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and other facilities that will teach you how to identify materials’ microstructures and learn about characterisation.

equipment on benchtop
Benchtop SEM scanning electron microscope with a high resolution detector
microscopes on worktop
Optical microscopes with wireless networking, iPad and remote control
laser machine on worktop
Bruckner D2 Phaser X-Ray Diffraction for findings of crystalline materials
materials equipment on benchtop
Differential Scanning Calorimetry for measuring polymeric samples

Bio-Projects Lab

The Bio-Projects Laboratory provides opportunities to gain applied experience with cell and tissue culture biological samples in a safe and state-of-the-art environment. The laboratory includes several biosafety cabinets with spaces for fridges, freezers and incubators. There is also space on the benches to house instruments for the analysis of a range of biological specimens.

biosafety cabinet for sterile conditions when testing samples
BioSafety Cabinet provides sterile, filtered ventilated working enclosure
sample coating machine
Sample Coating for precision and control in coating applications
plasma cleaner machine
Plasma cleaner for nanoscale surface cleaning, activation and alterations

3D Printing facilities

You will have use of a range of the latest generation 3D printers to help you to realise your designs, particularly for the production of prototypes.

3D printing equipment (looks like a miniature oven)
Stratasys F270 for 3D printing with PLA, M30 and ASA filament materials
3d printing machine
Stratasys connex3 3D printer creates high-quality parts and prototypes
3d printer called Ultimaker
Ultimaker 2+ open filament 3D printing system for PLA, ABS and more
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