MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE FOR INDUSTRY

At Switzerland Innovation Park Innovaare, ANAXAM helps industry understand materials, products and processes using advanced neutron and synchrotron X-ray analytics without destroying them.

«The aim is to optimize the production methods and processes of the industry partner and to create the basis for innovations in the field of advanced manufacturing.»

Dr. Christian Grünzweig

CEO, ANAXAM

Industrial innovation often depends on questions that conventional laboratory tools cannot answer. Why does a component fail under load? How does a liquid move inside a sealed product? Where are hidden defects, stresses or structural changes forming inside a material? For manufacturers, medtech companies, pharmaceutical firms, automotive suppliers and other technology-driven industries, these questions are critical, but the answers are often hidden deep inside complex materials and products.

This is where ANAXAM plays a distinctive role. Founded in 2019 by the Paul Scherrer Institute, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, the Swiss Nanoscience Institute and the Canton of Aargau, ANAXAM is a non-profit Research Institution of National Importance based in Villigen. Its name stands for Analytics with Neutrons and X-rays for Advanced Manufacturing, and its purpose is to make advanced analytical methods from fundamental research accessible for industrial applications.

Located at Switzerland Innovation Park Innovaare, ANAXAM works at the interface between world-class research and practical industrial needs. The centre provides access to neutron and synchrotron radiation methods, primarily at the Paul Scherrer Institute, enabling non-destructive material testing far beyond standard laboratory scale. Its services include imaging, diffraction, small-angle scattering, spectroscopy, tailor-made infrastructure, sample preparation, pre- and post-characterisation, as well as data analysis and interpretation.

The value for industry lies not only in access to large-scale research infrastructure, but in translation. ANAXAM supports companies from the first discussion of a technical challenge through consulting, measurements, analysis, interpretation and final reporting. In doing so, it helps industrial partners transform complex material questions into actionable insights for product development, process optimisation, quality control and future innovation. 

At Park Innovaare, in direct proximity to the Paul Scherrer Institute and embedded in one of the six main sites of Switzerland Innovation, ANAXAM shows how Switzerland's innovation ecosystem can turn scientific infrastructure into industrial impact.

Read more about ANAXAM's customer projects.

Key Facts

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    Established by PSI, FHNW, SNI and the Canton of Aargau

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    Innovation infrastructure with clean rooms, laboratories, precision workshops, offices and meeting rooms.

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    Industry Driven as Non-profit Technology Transfer Center

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