About Us

How it started

SemTem is the brainchild of Lafe Spietz and Zan Chaudhry. While Zan was  interning at the Hopkins Applied Physics Lab under Dr. Spietz, they got to discussing Zan's other work in the lab equipment business, particularly his issues with older scanning electron microscopes. Dr. Spietz, having years of experience in the field, knew the difficulties associated with these older units; almost all of the issues derive from the outdated control equipment. So together they formed the idea of trying to recreate the control system with modern technology through careful dissection and analysis of the old equipment, and SemTem was born. Along the way, the interest grew enough to enlist a high-level advisory board of experts and researchers in the field.

Outreach

SemTem is beginning to reach out to local universities, including University of Maryland College Park and the Baltimore Campus, as well as Johns Hopkins University to offer internships to interested students. The application can be found in the education section.

Founders

Advisory Board