PAOLI, Pa.–Taylor Hobson, a unit of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME – News), has joined with the UK Government in supporting a national Centre of Excellence in metrology for micro and nanotechnologies at Taylor Hobson’s Leicester, England, headquarters.

Taylor Hobson, a leader in the manufacture of ultra-precision measurement instrumentation, has joined with the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in a joint government-industry project known as CEMMNT (Centre of Excellence in Metrology for Micro and Nanotechnologies).

The project brings together five globally recognized industry leaders (Taylor Hobson, UK National Physical Laboratories, QinetiQ, Coventor, and the Systems Engineering Innovation Centre) in forming state-of-the-art centers for Micro- and Nanotechnology (MNT), including the one slated for Taylor Hobson’s facility in Leicester, England.

The goal of the project is to establish a metrology infrastructure across the United Kingdom that will accelerate the development of technology and speed the transfer of knowledge throughout the MNT industry. The UK DTI has earmarked funds that have been matched by industry, local sources and academia for the creation of the four centers.

“The Centre of Excellence will raise AMETEK and Taylor Hobson’s profile in nanotechnology. With over 20 years of experience in micro- and nano-scale measurement, Taylor Hobson is ideally placed to provide metrology solutions to emerging MNT industries,” comments Frank S. Hermance, AMETEK Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

The facility will be open for use by other UK businesses and will include a clean room equipped with leading-edge instrumentation such as a Taylor Hobson PGI 1240 nanometric profiler, a Talysurf CCI non-contact 3D surface profiler, a spectrophotometer, an atomic force microscope, and a laser interferometer.

Taylor Hobson is a leader in ultra-precision measurement instrumentation for a variety of markets, including optics, semiconductors, hard disk drives and nanotechnology research, and is a unit of AMETEK, Inc.

AMETEK, Inc., a New York Stock Exchange-listed company (NYSE:AME – News), is a leading global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices with annualized sales of more than $1.6 billion.