The purchase of the S-Neox helped create a center in Oklahoma addressing questions in human evolution, archaeology, evolutionary ecology, mechanical engineering, physics, and chemistry. Research in the center illuminates, by nature, different aspects of how we analyze use wear on different materials, man made or natural, for research as well as for industrial application. This instrument supports research in surface characterization, wear, and/or tribology of a broad range of materials such as tooth enamel, stone tools, ceramics, microstructural optical devices, and coatings.
As a broadly collaborative environment, the Surface Metrology and Tribology Lab acts as a hub for multidisciplinary discussion and research on surface wear and analysis, drawing upon a wide technical and theoretical basis as a means of fostering more robust research agendas and subsequently increasing the research breadth of the instrument.