Become a User

Michigan Center for Materials Characterization/Become a User

You have the choice of becoming a user by being trained on the instruments and carrying out the experiments yourself, or having our staff perform service work. All users, whether internal or external, including service work customers, will need to create a FOM (Facility Online Manager) account at https://fom.engin.umich.edu.

Becoming an Internal User

An internal user is a student, faculty or staff member at the University of Michigan who will be paying for Center usage on a U-M shortcode. A confirmation email will be sent to the PI for shortcode approval. Follow the steps below to become a user, or if you are unsure whether your research can be carried out in our lab, email with a brief description of your proposed experiments.  We will determine if your research can be performed with the equipment available and identify potential instruments.

  1. Create a FOM account here. We will not begin processing any requests that do not come through FOM. Review our policies if you have not already done so during FOM registration.
  2. Your FOM account will be confirmed and you will receive a system message with a link to our facility introduction seminar. After you complete the intro seminar and we receive the form at the end, FOM will send a message with links to our technical seminars including TEM, SEM, XPS, and micro-CT. Complete the relevant seminars for the equipment you plan to use.
  3. To receive card entry access to NCRC B22 and the (MC)2 office, you should email a photo of your Mcard to Deanna Hecht, [email protected], in addition to the PDF completion certificate from the MyLINC safety training course BLS025w: Chemical Laboratory Safety Training. You have likely already taken this training and if so can download the certificate you’ve previously been granted from the Training Transcript page.
  4. After required seminars have been completed, we’ll update your account once again and you can request training for each instrument you plan to use through the FOM User Home page (“Apply for access to new resource” drop-down menu at the top of the page) so that we have a record of your request. Include your available dates/times for training. This request is sent directly to the equipment managers who will then reach out to you about scheduling and any other next steps.

Becoming an External User

All users from other universities or from industry, government, or non-profit organizations are considered external users. External rates are listed at https://mc2.engin.umich.edu/rates. Prior to use of Center resources, external users are required to fill out a service agreement and indicate a payment method. If you are unsure whether your research can be carried out in our lab, email with a brief description of your proposed experiments.  We will determine if your research can be performed with the equipment available and identify potential instruments.

Steps 1-3 are required to request service work by Center staff. The additional steps 4-6 are only required for users who will be training to use the equipment independently.

  1. Download External Service Agreement and email completed version of the form along with a purchase order (if applicable) to Deanna Hecht.
    • Be sure that the address you supply in the service agreement form is your billing address.
    • If credit card is indicated on the service agreement as the payment method, note that a 2.7% processing fee will be included on invoices. If the payment method changes, please notify us, so this fee will no longer be added. 
    • Invoices are normally sent at the beginning of each month for the prior month’s total usage (Net 30 payment terms).  
  2. Create an external FOM account here – even if (MC)2 staff will be performing the work. 
  3. Review our policies if you have not already done so during FOM registration. If you are requesting service work, submit a request from the Collaborate & Service page in FOM. 
  4. If you plan to train on our equipment rather than request service work by our staff, you will also need to be sponsored by the department as a university affiliate (receive a U-M uniqname/identity) and complete the university’s required lab safety training. Contact Deanna Hecht ([email protected]) to request a sponsored affiliate identity. Your account will be confirmed after safety training is completed, then you will receive a FOM system message with a link to our facility introduction seminar.
  5. After you complete the intro seminar and we receive the form at the end, you will be sent another message with links to our technical seminars including TEM, SEM, XPS, and micro-CT. Complete the relevant seminars for the equipment you plan to use.
  6. After required seminars have been completed, staff will update your account once again and you can request training for each instrument you plan to use through the FOM User Home page (“Apply for access to new resource” drop-down menu at the top of the page) so that we have a record of your request. Include your available dates/times for training. This request is sent directly to the equipment managers who will then reach out to you about scheduling and any other additional steps.

Facility Access for External Users

External users may use visitor entrances located in NCRC Buildings 32 and 18 for daytime weekday access.

Optionally, non-UM users who plan on frequent facility access to use equipment may arrange to receive a card from the NCRC card office (open 9-5 Mon-Fri in B18) for direct access to Building 22 during daytime weekday hours. You should first have a sponsored affiliate identity set up in order to receive a UMID number and uniqname. Contact Deanna Hecht, [email protected], for information on becoming a sponsored affiliate. Once your UMID is created, Deanna will submit a request ticket to the card office approving the new card and you will be able to drop in during their office hours to pick it up.

Parking

Paid visitor parking is located around the complex. The closest to Building 22 is available in Lot NC105 (see NCRC Visitor Map).

Seminars and Hands-On Training

Before performing work in (MC)², new users are required to complete a seminar outlining facility rules, safety, and instrumentation. Following the facility introduction, there are additional seminars focusing on the specific techniques users need for research before being trained on the instruments. Seminars should be requested through FOM. Most are available online, with the exception of the FIB seminar, which is scheduled in-person.

Instrument Booking

Follow this link for scheduling instruments or checking availability.

Remember:

  • Instrument access is auto-deactivated by the lab management system if equipment has not been used for 6 months straight. If you still need access, you may submit another access request from the User Home page to notify us if you need re-training or reactivation of your previous access.
  • Actual training will not commence until users have their samples in hand.  This is to avoid a user forgetting training material before their samples are ready and needing to begin the process again.
  • (MC)2 staff can advise and help a user in all aspects of specimen preparation, instrument use, and data interpretation at any stage of their work.

Users should contact with any questions about training, service, or access.