Announcement of an Exempt Purchase

Revolution High-resolution fluorescence microscope with high powered lenses and intuitive microscope software for z-stacking, stitching, and time-lapse imaging with stage top incubation for environmental controls.

This purchase is exempt from the usual selection processes of the Procurement Code because the procurement expenditure is for performing sponsored research and other sponsored activities under grants and contracts funded by the sponsor or by sources other than State appropriations. (30 ILCS 500 / 1-13(b)(8)) The Revolution microscope is designed to easily convert from upright to inverted configurations, giving users the functionality of 2 microscopes in 1 instrument. Echo is the sole designer and manufacturer of the Revolution microscope and its dedicated software user interface. No other microscope manufacturer is able to provide this unique functionality. In addition, the Revolution system provides 2 cameras, 6 lenses, 5 imaging channels and a stage top incubator that are important for our research. The hybrid functionality of being able to convert between upright and inverted configurations is not available by any other vendor. This is a feature that is very important to the project and will save on overall cost by having 2 microscopes in 1 instrument.