Nikon
Nikon Instruments, Inc.
Nikon is a world-renowned brand, firmly established as a market leader in optical instrumentation and the only microscope company to manufacture its own glass, ensuring the very finest quality assurance throughout production. Now celebrating 100 years of expertise in the field, Nikon has always been at the forefront of optical and technological innovation, promoting creativity and trustworthiness as part of the company’s global mission statement. In 2017, the Florida Atlantic University Brain Institute was designated a Nikon Center of Excellence, with Randy D. Blakely, Ph.D. serving as Center Director. This designation supports collaborations in instrumentation design and implementation. Centers of Excellence represent partnerships and exchange of knowledge with specific research centers to provide access to advanced Nikon instrumentation, giving senior and young investigators use of cutting edge imaging platforms at reduced cost. In addition to providing access to their faculty of state-of-the-art instrumentation, Centers of Excellence provide training courses on basic and advanced microscopy techniques and act as a training location for Nikon staff. In relation to the current application, the partnership will provide the ASCEND Program with opportunities to demonstrate leading edge technologies for the “wow factor” of visualizing life in 3D, in multicolor, and with the motion of real life. The facilities developed through the ongoing FAI-Nikon partnership serve as a model for the ASCEND program to reach out to the biotechnology community where opportunities to exposure to cutting edge technologies that populate modern neuroscience can be demonstrated for junior mentees.