Specialist Research Facilities

Analyses of ammonia, phosphate, nitrate/nitrite, in water samples, using Flow Injection Analysis (FIA). Please email Bruce Patty or phone +64 7 838 4466 extension 6473 for further details and pricing.

The HEMOX ANALYZER is an automatic system for the recording of blood oxygen equilibrium curves and related phenomena. Please email Associate Professor Nick Ling or phone +64 7 8384466 extension 6039 for further details and pricing.

The Chemical Services Unit has numerous research facilities and services that are also available for commercial purposes. Check out our Services and Facilities Fees Schedule for a comprehensive list of the available services and related fees. Please email Associate Professor Merilyn Manley-Harris or phone +64 7 838 4384 for more information.

Please also refer to the Electron Microscope and Mass Spectrometry facilities.

The Department of Earth & Ocean Sciences offers a number of services to businesses, organisations and individuals at competitive prices. Specialised field sampling and state-of-the-art measurement and monitoring technology are complemented by modern laboratory and computing facilities. Some of the available facilities/services include:

• Mastersizer 2000 - measures particles between the sizes 0.06 and 2000 micrometers. (Email Annette Rodgers or phone +64 7 858 5098.)
• X-ray Fluorescence - measures the composition of earth materials (rocks, sand, soils) for major and trace elements by XRF. (Email Roger Briggs or phone +64 7 838 4602.)
• X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) - determination of very fine grained minerals not identifiable by petrographic microscope. (Email Ganqing Xu or phone +64 7 858 5166.)
• Thin Section Petrography - standard, polished for reflected light and petrographic description. (Email Renat Radosinsky or phone +64 7 858 5131.)
  

Please also refer to the Coastal Marine Group facilities.

Check out our Services and Facilities Fees Schedule for more information and further available services. Alternatively, you can email the Department.

Systems for fish survey work in all fresh waters. Fully certified operators. Including:

• Boat, 3.5 meter custom built. Only one of its type operating in New Zealand.
• Generator, two electrode stream survey method.
• Back Pack, single electrode stream survey method.

Please email Dudley Bell or Associate Professor Brendan Hicks or phone +64 7 838 4104 for further details and pricing.

The core instruments of the Electron Microscope Facility are the Hitachi S-4700 Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with Quorum Technologies Cryo-system, and the Philips CM30 High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). Both have x-ray analytical capability for elemental analysis.

The SEM system allows high magnification imaging and elemental analysis of small samples including hydrated materials. Sample type may range from bacteria and plant material to metal alloys. The TEM facilitates high resolution imaging of crystallographic and structural features of very thin samples.  The microscopes are used predominantly for research and teaching. The SEM also has commercial applications including the imaging and analysis of contaminants, particularly important in the food, dairy and water industries where quality assurance is important.

Our facilities are available for paying users to operate, if they are trained to do so. Check out our Services and Facilities Fees Schedule for pricing. Clients do not have to supply consumables.  Alternatively, you can email Helen Turner or phone 027 290 9057.

More information about Microscopy@Waikato

The Industrial Energy Efficiency Division of the Waikato Energy Research Centre has a number of facilities and equipment available for both internal and external research purposes, including (but not limited to):

• a fluid mechanics laboratory
• PIV-LIF equipment
• energy audit equipment

The Waikato Mass Spectrometry Facility operates and maintains the Faculty's range of high-performance mass spectrometers. The instrumentation supports research and teaching activities within the Faculty and a range of services are available to external institutions and industrial clients.

The facility is a Bruker Daltonics Centre of Excellence.

The Faculty's School of Engineering has production equipment for metal machining that can be made be available for experienced external clients with their own CNC program to operate on the relevant machine. If you don't have  your own program, our workshop technical staff can help. Cost is negotiable and depends on the job. We also have CAD (Solidwork) and CAM (Mastercam) software available for the clients to program their job. The client should provide materials for their job.

CNC facilities in the workshop include:

• CNC milling machine (Galaxy CNC 1350A, Centroid controller)
• CNC Lathe (Cyclematic CT-1118 CNC, Centroid controller)
• Teach Lathe (Haas TL-2)

For more information, please email Dr Chi Kit Au for assistance, or phone +64-7-8384406.

Boats; 6 meter and 3.8 meter, Fully Certified Skipper, nets, traps for sampling fish and plankton.  Range of water quality meters, plus CTD, Biofish. Please email Dudley Bell or Warrick Powrie or else phone +64 7 838 4104 for further details and pricing.

The Faculty's Coastal Marine Group (CMG) has more than 30 years’ experience in state-of-the-art sampling, measurement and monitoring of shallow water environments. Our strength lies in applying coastal research to real-world issues – providing a scientific basis for resource management from environmental policy to engineering works. Our equipment is customised for use in small survey vessels supporting a range of mapping requirements in offshore and inland locations, particularly in coastal and shallow waters. Our multidisciplinary team can tailor its services to meet research and commercial needs.

Download our brochure

The Waikato Stable Isotope Unit (WSIU) offers precision analyses of isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in biological, geological, and chemical materials by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Isotopic abundance analysis is carried out on two fully automated Europa Scientific 20/20 isotope analysers. Materials may be submitted as solids, liquids, or gases, for example, for breath analyses. Precision analyses of carbon and nitrogen content in solid or liquid samples are also provided with a LECO TruSpec Carbon/Nitrogen Determinator fitted with an autosampler for liquids.

The WSIU provides commercial analyses and also services the needs of scientists at the University of Waikato and their collaborators, promoting the use of stable isotopes in all branches of research. The unit operates under the Department of Biological Sciences and the staff are highly experienced in the use of stable isotopes, both natural abundance and enriched tracers, particularly in biological and environmental research. In 2006 the WSIU was accredited by the International Atomic Energy Agency for analyses of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) content and isotopes 13C and 15N in plant materials.

Stable Isotope Geochemistry at the University of Waikato is carried out in a separate facility within the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences. Measurements of stable oxygen and carbon isotope ratios in carbonates are made with an automated Europa Scientific Penta 20/20 isotope ratio mass spectrometer with CAPS preparation system. Determinations on prepared CO2 can also be performed.

Founded in 1972, the University of Waikato Herbarium (WAIK)  is located on the first floor of D Block, Room D.1.14, in the Faculty of Science & Engineering, Hillcrest Road, Hamilton). The herbarium is staffed and maintained by the Centre for Biodiversity and Ecology Research (CBER). It is housed in a temperature controlled room and is a PC1 containment facility. WAIK services requirements for systematic botanical research and identification of plants for the University, education of University of Waikato students, other government and public organisations, and individuals. It functions to serve as a repository for voucher specimens, with a focus on the plants of the greater Waikato. Inquire for costs of specialist taxonomic services.

The Waikato Biological Imaging Facility offers a broad range of microscopy and photography services. A comprehensive platform for confocal laser scanning microscopy including spectral deconvolution, live-cell imaging and powerful post-processing software for analysis and 3D reconstruction. Services include:

• Conventional photomicroscopy including epi-fluorescence and all transmitted light modes.
• High resolution still, time-lapse and video imaging.
• Extended depth-of-field imaging using AutoMontage.
• Photomacrography, close-up and general technical photography.

Email us for more information.

More information about Microscopy@Waikato

The Waikato DNA Sequencing Unit offers molecular biology core services based on the LifeTech 3130xl Genetic Analyser, Roche GS Junior and LifeTech Ion Torrent PGM systems, providing sequencing and genotyping for researchers from single-stranded, double-stranded, PCR-derived, genomic and environmental DNA templates.

The Waikato Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory is a research facility undertaking both Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Dating (AMS) and standard radiometric radiocarbon dating. The facility is an independent unit within the Faculty of Science and Engineering, and has been operating for more than 25 years. It is funded by external commercial customers and research grants, and is used to support radiocarbon dating and Faculty of Science & Engineering research programmes. Staff in the unit are actively involved in palaeoclimate and archaeological research and have a leading role in international calibration programmes.

Incorporating marine and freshwater circulation systems in air conditioned rooms for maintenance of animal specimens including the 7.5 x 0.5 x 0.5m and 2 x 0.16 x 0.16m (LxWxD) recirculating flumes, digital video camera and recorder and a Sontek ADV velocity sensor. Please email Associate Professor Conrad Pilditch or phone +64 7 838 4466 extension 6132 for further details and pricing.