Equipment & Prototype Center
The Equipment & Prototype Center (EPC) makes custom experimental setups and prototypes for various fields of research.
Facilities for custom-made experimental setups
Cutting-edge research into innovative technologies often requires unique setups and prototypes. Consequently, developing the setup often becomes a research project in its own right. The EPC designs and produces these often complex setups in close cooperation with the client.
High-profile research projects
Numerous high-profile research projects would not have been possible without the EPC. For example, the EPC built a prototype of an adaptive mirror for a telescope: the system corrects optical aberrations caused by the atmosphere by allowing the mirror to deform in real time. Measurement setups for experiments with gas-discharge lamps in the ISS space station, a joint TU/e and Philips venture, were also developed and built here. PhD candidates behind various spin-offs, such as Micro Sure, Preceyes and XPRESS, built their first prototype with the EPC.
Various fields
The EPC has excellent and state-of-the-art technologies in various fields of expertise, extending to both the design process and the production of the setups and products. The EPC specialists advise on matters of mechanics, electronics and physics. Whether optical systems, particle accelerators, plasma deposition or custom-made glass instruments are involved, the EPC has both the knowledge and the technologies to devise the innovative solutions required by complex research.
Unique step-by-step approach
As a rule, innovative setups and prototypes are not designed at the first attempt. A step-by-step approach is often needed: an initial design is followed by testing, which reveals the need for particular adaptations. This approach distinguishes the EPC from its counterparts in industry. In this way, and thanks to short communication lines with the client, the team is able to arrive at a product that satisfies all the requirements. For some high-tech startups, the presence of the EPC was one of the reasons for locating their business on the TU/e campus.
While the EPC works primarily for clients within TU/e, assignments are also accepted from external research institutions and industry. For more information, contact Wim Peters.
VIDEO Equipment and Prototype Center
At the TU/e Equipment and Prototype Center (EPC) we help scientists to realize their projects and experiments. Whether it’s high precision measuring equipment on micro-scale,
the making of robust constructions to withstand extreme forces, or the art of glassblowing that is used to make laboratory glassware.
When it comes to mechanical engineering, electronics, physics, or mechatronics, at the EPC, we can make just about any idea come to life.
Visit our other state-of-the-art labs and facilities
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