Northern Illinois University (NIU) Dean Promod Vohra (left) and Mitutoyo America Corp. President Mikio Yamashita are shown opening the university’s Mitutoyo Metrology Laboratory. Behind them is NIU Department of Technology Chair Cliff Mirman. (Photo courtesy of G. Tarbay, NIU)

Northern Illinois University (NIU) hosted officials from Mitutoyo America Corp., Aurora, Ill.,  at the recent opening of the university’s new, state-of-the-art metrology laboratory.

The Mitutoyo Metrology Laboratory was developed to teach students in the science of dimensional measurement and its uses in manufacturing and related tasks. Such applications often call for measurement tolerances on the order of millionths-of-a-meter and even less.

Mitutoyo will provide measurement equipment and $125,000 over three years. The equipment ranges from handheld micrometers, calipers, and indicators to automated instruments such as coordinate measurement machines (CMMs), roundness and surface testing equipment, and optical measurement and inspection devices.

In addition to metrology instruction, the lab will provide other university departments, such as Mechanical Engineering and Industrial and Systems Engineering, with opportunities to work with the measurement equipment in their programs and projects. NIU and Mitutoyo America expect to undertake joint research and development projects to advance state-of-the-art in dimensional metrology.