People
Bernie Breton
Bernie Breton joined the Engineering Department in 1981, having left the USA after many years in industry as an engineer, manager, and executive of scientific instrument manufacturers. He became a leading member of the Scientific Imaging Group and is now a Senior Research Associate.
He founded the Multimedia Group in 1999 to develop the 125th anniversary web-site for the Department. Since then, he has led the Multimedia Group and been actively involved in all its diverse projects. He is responsible for the management of the Department's video-conferencing facilities and provides tuition on their use to staff members. He also supervises the operation of the Department's plasma screen. He oversees the production of e-cards for individual research groups and staff.
Mr Breton continues to undertake research in scanning electron microscopy, with special interests in novel techniques for generating stereo images, remote diagnosis, and algorithmic and knowledge-based control of the instrument. This work is in partnership with LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd.
Background
Originally from Canada, Mr Breton spent many years in industry as an engineer, manager, and executive of scientific instrument manufacturers, responsible at various times for service teams, research activities, and marketing. In 1981, he joined the Department of Engineering as a researcher, initially to develop control hardware for high voltage transmission electron microscopes.
Since then, he has been involved in numerous microscopy projects in partnership with multiple international companies, including Texas Instruments and most recently LEO Electron Microscopy. He holds patents on methods for generating stereo images in the scanning electron microscope, and has been at the forefront of using web-based technologies to diagnose and control instruments.
He remains active as a project supervisor of fourth-year engineering students.