Agilent Korea announced the opening of a customer training and analysis center equipped with state-of-the-art analysis equipment in Korea. Agilent aims to promote collaboration with customers developing new testing applications and methodologies in the agriculture, environment, food, pharmaceutical, and semiconductor industry sectors. Through the newly established center, Agilent plans to provide training on cutting-edge spectroscopy and mass spectrometry technologies and technical applications to researchers in relevant industries across South Asia and the Pacific region.

The most notable feature of the customer training and analysis center is the cleanroom facility where semiconductor researchers can safely and efficiently test and research materials used in the semiconductor industry using Agilent's latest atomic and molecular spectrometers. This cleanroom, certified as Class 1000, maintains environmental contaminants such as dust, airborne microorganisms, aerosol particles, and chemical vapors at extremely low levels, with fewer than 1,000 particles per square foot.

Dr. Teng Chai Hock, Vice President and General Manager for South Asia, Pacific, and Korea regions of Agilent's Chemical Analysis Group, stated: "Korea is an important market for Agilent. Korea has not only major conglomerates but also world-leading electronics companies as well as local and global pharmaceutical and chemical companies. To more effectively support growing customers and expand the frontiers of science, we have established the Agilent Customer Training and Analysis Center to provide various collaboration and education programs." He added, "This center can also be used by customers from other regions. We actually expect that customers from the South Asia and Pacific region will gather here, and this center will contribute to establishing high-level standards in agriculture, environment, food, pharmaceutical, and semiconductor industries."

Agilent customers can research and analyze inorganic materials and compounds in the semiconductor, materials science, food, pharmaceutical, environmental, and agriculture sectors at the customer training and analysis center.

Douglas Jenson, General Manager for Korea region of Agilent's Chemical Analysis Group, stated: "This customer training and analysis center complements our existing Agilent organic materials and life sciences center in Korea." He added, "We will continue to meet customers' increasing demands for compound identification, sensitivity improvement, and lower detection limits, and the cutting-edge technology in this center will help enhance the reliability of analytical results."

He further explained: "Agilent's customer partnerships ensure that their customers can safely consume agricultural products and drinking water and also safely and effectively use new compounds used in mobile phones and consumer appliances. In addition to rigorous testing to ensure safety and reliability, in-depth research to understand compounds will be conducted." He added, "Through this, Agilent and the Korean scientific community will strengthen cooperation and develop new application fields that can be utilized in Asia and worldwide."

The customer training and analysis center is equipped with Agilent's latest analysis instruments, including atomic and molecular spectrometers and mass spectrometry-related technologies. Through these instruments, researchers can detect, identify, and quantify chemical substances. In addition to research and collaboration functions, this center will also be able to provide specialized training programs related to the latest technologies and equipment for researchers in Korea and various Asian-related fields.

Located in the Gangnam area of Seoul, this center is composed of experienced researchers, and the representative cutting-edge instruments to be installed are as follows:

• Agilent 4100 Microwave Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometer: Selected as one of the most technically significant products introduced to the market in 2011 in the prestigious R&D 100 Award presented by R&D Magazine

• Agilent 8800 triple quadrupole ICP-MS: World's first and only • The Agilent 8800 can analyze problem elements in samples across all application fields.
• Agilent Cary 630 FTIR spectrometer: Can accurately and rapidly analyze solids, liquids, and gases. Recently won the 2012 Instrument Business Outlook (IBO) Industrial Design Gold Award.

• Agilent 4100 ExoScan handheld Fourier transform infrared spectrometer: Can accurately analyze carbon fiber composites.

In addition, the following equipment is installed:

Atomic Spectroscopy
7700 ICP-MS
720 ICP-OES
AA

Molecular Spectroscopy
Cary 5000
Cary 60
Cary Eclipse
FTIR 660 + microscope
1290 UHPLC
7595 GC-MSD