About LMS

In the world of big-time, small-scale characterization, the Lehigh Microscopy School (LMS) has been leading the way for 51 years, and shows no signs of slowing down.

The school's 2024 offering,  June 3 - June 7, has marked over half a century since the annual weeklong program was founded to help keep colleagues and professionals in the research community abreast of developments in scanning electron microscopy. The first Lehigh Microscopy School was organized by renowned Lehigh University Professor Joe Goldstein in the summer of 1970 with three lecturers, a dozen students, and a single scanning electron microscope (SEM). Since then, the annual Lehigh-hosted event has grown to become the largest school of its kind. Now in its 51st year, the weeklong school offers basic and advanced courses that combine theory with lab practice. Manufacturers’ microscopes supplement the nine scanning and transmission electron microscopes in Lehigh’s Materials Characterization Facility, one of the best equipped of its kind in the United States.

According to Chris Kiely, a professor of materials science and engineering in the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science who serves as the school’s director, it is the faculty, staff, and invited lecturers who bring the program to life each year and continue to uphold its long-standing reputation for quality among the representatives of industry, national labs, and academia in attendance. "There are folks who attend who have never seen these instruments before, and quite a few who have worked with them and are looking to gain more experience," says Kiely.  We also show them how versatile it is, and the various ways for setting it up to do different tasks."

The Lehigh Microscopy School is open to interested engineers, scientists, and technicians. Course offerings include Scanning Electron Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy, X-ray Microanalysis, Focused Ion Beam (FIB) Instrumentation and Applications, and Quantitative X-ray Microanalysis using EDS and WDS techniques. For more information or to register, visit lehigh.edu/microscopy.