wrote:

Hi, I am requesting your input on this idea since I have no experience working in a collective way. I want to build a Magnetron Sputtering Vacuum Deposition System to produce thin films, ultra thin films, and nanoparticles. I am interested in working at the interface of materials science and bioengineering. My particular interest is exploring nano-materials for enhanced raman spectra signaling - including bio-engineering for enhanced fluorescence-emf detection. However, other subjects also interest me, such as the toxic effects of micro and nano-materials and how these materials interact with organisms, cells and biological processes in general. Building a thin film deposition system is a challenge but can be extremely interesting. This kind of equipment is very costly and only some very lucky people have access to learning how they are built and how they operate. This is because the magnetron sputtering chambers are used in the private industry only by trained and skilled personnel. In universities and technical colleges, only experts and selected talented students get access to these machines while working on their thesis projects. In YouTube I have watched people building their own vacuum chambers, rather crude, o.k. for hobby but not likely to work for producing nano-materials with real-life applications (sorry for being so critical). I am contemplating working on building a system using your Collective model. However, I have never worked in an open group setting and I wonder if this would be a realistic expectation and if there would be any interest at all! Although I am not alone. There are five of us in my group, we are people with similar interests living and working in Berkeley with limited free time to work on our own projects, since we have day jobs at UCB. Only one of us has actually built such equipment before. The rest in our group only have used the equipment and/or has worked on experiments using nano-materials, mainly plants. I look forward to your input. Thanks, Leticia Menchaca