A Few Words about Structure Probe, Inc. and SPI Supplies
Historical development of the company
Structure Probe, Inc. was founded in April, 1970 by
Charles A. Garber, Ph. D., who is still the President
and Chief Executive Officer of the firm.
From the starting point of one of the first scanning electron microscopes
commercially imported into the USA and three employees, Dr. Garber has
directed the company's growth into a facility with 30+ employees and
thousands of dollars worth of electron optical equipment. Over the years,
our analytical equipment capabilities have been expanded to include other
types of electron optical instrumentation such as transmission electron
microscopy (TEM), and the latest state of the art energy dispersive x-ray
microanalysis (EDS) instrumentation. With the instrumentation we have
in-house, we can provide images covering a wide range of magnifications and
on a wide range of materials, from life sciences to the materials sciences,
and from relatively large sample and features down the very finest of
nanostructures ever seen. Also, in house, are outstanding facilities for
performing light microscopy, ultramicrotomy (room temperature and cryo),
vacuum deposition, ion milling, and a variety of
other techniques including osmium plasma coating of SEM samples for those requiring
the very highest resolution. Few independent analytical and testing laboratories can
offer such a powerful combined capability today. Although for many years we
presented ourselves as Specialists in Materials Research, today we
are equally comfortable and experienced with a wide range of life science
samples as well as medical devices and biomaterials. Our failure analysis
reports are used in legal cases internationally and a final report from the
Structure Probe staff is respected and accepted globally.
The SPI Supplies Division of Structure Probe, Inc. was started in 1975 and
is now known worldwide as a leading manufacturer and distributor of sample
preparation equipment and consumable supply items for the routine operation
of the typical SEM, TEM, LM, SPM and surface analysis laboratory. The SPI
Supplies website has become the world's "reference resource" for information
about microscopy sample preparation and equipment maintenance items. We are
also known as the innovator in our corner of the microscopy and
microanalysis market, being the first to bring to commercial realization now
familiar products such as colloidal gold probes and silicon nitride membrane
window grids. But perhaps most important, with our in-house facilities, and
our own in-house SEM and TEM capabilities, we can quality inspect our
products before final packaging. We can duplicate customer problems and
give them solutions. No other firm serving our end of the microscopy and
microanalysis market can come close to providing such a high level service.
Structure Probe, Inc. is headquartered in West Chester, PA, and still
occupies the original premises first leased in 1970. Of course, with the
passing of time, as the company has grown, so has its space requirements,
and presently occupies over 15,000 square feet of laboratory, packing,
manufacturing and office space. The firm has been under the same ownership
and management team this entire time and customers have come to expect the
benefits that come from continuity of management when it comes to the
purchase of expensive scientific equipment. From a corporate standpoint, we were the first in our
industry to develop a commercial e-commerce website and were also the first
to become 100% paperless and discontinue the publishing of a printed catalog.
We have been recognized by our customers for our environmental
consciousness and we deliver information about our
products, to our customers, without the need to cut down a single tree.
We were the first in our industry to actively
promote a recycling program
for some of those items that contain non-renewable resources.
And in mid-2000, Structure Probe, Inc. and SPI Supplies played a leadership
role in the development of the
Microscopy Advantage™ CD, the first off-line resource for those
working in microscopy and microanalysis, for those who do not have
convenient and/or inexpensive access to the internet and therefore also, to
the rich resources that come with on-line access. New editions which come out
every six months, are being put into the "attendee bags" of all of the major scientific
meetings worldwide with an amphasis on electron microscopy and is seen as the main off-line
resource for workers in microscopy and microanalysis.
We are also a close neighbor of West Chester University, a leading
university in our local area, and where we have numerous educational and
scientific interactions, and from where our firm often turns as a source for
our future employees.
Dr. Garber is an active member of the small business community and has
testified several times before committees of the United States Congress
on subjects involving small technology-based firms and, most recently,
technical innovation in small firms. Dr. Garber served as an elected
delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business (1980 and 1986)
and as a Presidential Appointee Alternate and also delegate to the
1995 White House Conference on Small Business as part of the Pennsylvania delegation.
Other employees of Structure Probe, Inc. are equally active, not only in scientific societies
but also in our local community, such as serving on the volunteer fire department
But perhaps more important than anything else, as indicated above, our firm
has been under one continuous ownership and management since its founding in
1970. In today's competitive business environment, no company can celebrate
its 35th anniversary without providing the highest standard of service and
performance to its clients and customers. Structure Probe, Inc. and its main operating division, SPI Supplies, will
continue its leading position in the industries it serves and will
perpetuate this culture of excellence and innovation, which our customers
and employees have come to know and expect.
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Monday October 06, 2008
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