Press Releases

Siskiyou Logo
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Grants Pass, OR – October 24, 2023 - Siskiyou, a leading manufacturer of high-end Photonics, Laboratory Mechanicals, and Life Sciences equipment, is launching a fully redesigned website to give visitors a better experience. The site will allow customers to streamline their searches to determine their needs.

'We are excited to launch our site with an eye to the future,' said President Robert Hodge. 'This new site will help customers learn more about our products and identify areas where we can work directly with them to mitigate the challenges they face in their research or application.'

The website has a sharp new look and more straightforward navigation, is accessible, and will provide more detailed information regarding Siskiyou's products. The site will replace old catalogs and provide current availability and product design.

'Our international customers will see an improvement in the site's functionality,’ said Jen Wheatley, COO. 'Not only is the visual impact and navigation improved, but the checkout process will be better for everyone.'

The new site will have current information regarding products, recent research outcomes, trade show participation, white papers, and celebrate the milestones of all the Siskiyou employees. The Siskiyou Catalog of over 3,000 products will be available through the new website.

'New and innovative ideas for products and ways to serve our customers and make their time with us effective is our priority,' continued Wheatley. 'We are excited to see what our customers discover and their use of the new features.'

Bob Hodge in 1972, working on a lathe
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Grants Pass, OR – August 1, 2022 - Siskiyou Corporation has provided a diverse range of micromanipulators, microscope sample positioners, motion control systems, and modular optomechanical building blocks to Life Science and Photonics researchers for 50 years.

Siskiyou was founded in 1972 in Grants Pass, Oregon, by Bob Hodge as a two-person shop with the mission to provide precision positioning devices for photonics research. The first products were a mirror mount, support post, support post holder, and mounting base. The precision of Siskiyou’s instruments attracted attention. Soon customers were requesting related devices.

Advances in life science and photonics research led to new uses for Siskiyou’s devices driving growth. Staff and equipment were added to handle new design requests and manufacturing. By 1992, Siskiyou had grown and had the latest CNC machining centers. And now has a large machine shop with numerous state of the art machines, large assembly area, cleanroom and an anodizing facility.

‘Now with 50+ years, we continue to adapt to changing market demands through technology and our highly skilled staff,’ said current President Robert Hodge. ‘The one element that Siskiyou will never outgrow is its commitment to quality.’

Siskiyou is committed to developing and maintaining a highly trained and skilled team dedicated to serving customers. The team of more than 30 employees has an average tenure of 17 and one-half years ranging from a few months to over 45 years. This gives Siskiyou the benefit of a great deal of experience combined with new ideas as they enter the next 50 years.

“I could not have imagined how far the company would go when we first started,’ said Founder Bob Hodge. ‘It has been such a delight to witness the growth, watched as technology grew and advanced, and see my children and grandchildren get involved. But what really makes this all worthwhile is the hundreds of employees over the years that have contributed so much to our success.’

Jennifer Wheatley, Siskiyou Corporation. COO
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Grants Pass, OR – February 1, 2022 - Siskiyou Corporation, the manufacturer of high-end Photonics, Life Sciences, and Laboratory Mechanical equipment, has added Jennifer Wheatley to the team as their new Chief Operating Officer. Jennifer comes to Siskiyou with a wide breadth of experience domestically and internationally. She has proven to be a team leader, delivering results through employee development and empowerment.

‘We originally hired Jennifer as a consultant in December 2020 to help us with succession planning for key personnel. During that process and working with Jennifer, we also saw an opportunity to improve planning and structure at Siskiyou. She has been exceptional in this regard,’ said Siskiyou President Robert Hodge.

Previously, Jennifer held senior leadership roles supporting international relationships, work, and social investments. Jennifer is an experienced Senior Manager with a demonstrated history working in multiple industries, including manufacturing, food and beverage, education, and nonprofit, allowing her to see new and different approaches to Siskiyou’s work and processes. She is a strategic and creative thinker who builds brands by working collaboratively and is skilled in Corporate Social Responsibility, Communications, Public Relations, Brand Management, and Philanthropy.

‘Her ability to work with staff and complete projects led us to offer her a full-time position as COO after more than a year of consulting,’ continued Hodge. Jennifer’s role as COO is to handle day-to-day operations, create a Board of Directors for family shareholders, and set up a succession plan for the next generation of owners. ‘We look forward to seeing what the future brings with her on board.’

IS-LEDc PR Image
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Grants Pass, OR – September 14, 2015 - The new IS-LEDc from Siskiyou Corporation is a turnkey, flexible, and easy-to-use dual-wavelength excitation light source for optogenetics and other life science applications. Specifically, the IS-LEDc optics module combines the output from two LEDs and focuses this light into a single SMA fiber optic connector. The IS-LEDc controller provides a simple software and USB interface to enable full digital and independently addressable control of each LED, including external triggering from TTL input. The IS-LEDc is available with a choice of any two LEDs from a comprehensive range of visible and near-infrared center wavelengths, including 460 nm, 525 nm, 590 nm, 735 nm, and 850 nm. LED nominal power output is 5 watts at each wavelength, with other powers available on a custom basis.

The IS-LEDc is ideal for both end users and OEMs in a growing number of applications – from optogenetics stimulation to widefield microscopy and fluorescence imaging of microwell arrays – that need the ability to independently pulse two different excitation wavelengths, with no time lag or shift in illumination alignment. The majority of these also need fiber delivery of the light sources. The IS-LEDc greatly simplifies the task of fiber delivery because it is permanently aligned at the factory to eliminate all the well-known challenges faced when attempting to couple LED output into a fiber, and particularly when combining two LEDs into a single fiber. The output of the IS-LEDc can then be coupled into standard format upright microscopes using SMA connectorized fiber and Siskiyou’s CBH-1.0 microscope beamsplitter module. Alternately, the output can be focused into other applications using the company’s MRK100 imaging system.

*This item is not available online, please contact Siskiyou's Sales team to discuss your application and to request a quote. email HERE *

Flow Cytometry PR Image
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Grants Pass, OR – August 17, 2015 - Although product miniaturization can confer numerous practical advantages, it may create significant design issues — hurdles that need to be overcome to make the miniaturization a reality. Siskiyou Corp., a supplier of positioning equipment for life sciences and which specializes in building hardware for space- and access-restricted applications, has just solved such an obstacle. The company has rectified thermal management issues associated with the miniaturization of flow cytometers.

“Many manufacturers of laser-based instruments, from desktop flow cytometers to portable spectrometers for greenhouse gas analysis, are continually working to make their equipment more compact, rugged and reliable,” notes Robert Hodge, Siskiyou President. “Top adjusted optical mounts are an especially useful tool for making systems more compact. This is because these can be placed much closer together than traditional mounts, which require open space at their rear for actuator access. But, top adjustment necessarily requires that the actuator force be applied perpendicular to the direction of mount motion. And, this opens up the possibility that rotation of the adjustment screw will cause some slight twisting in the mount or stage in that perpendicular direction, as well as pre-loading the setup with rotational stress which can lead to shifts over time. For today’s increasingly high performance laser-based instruments, even this slight motion, at the micron level, simply can’t be tolerated. This innovation enables us to produce mounts and linear stages that can be placed close together, or even bulkhead mounted, while delivering the same superior performance and long term stability as our rear adjustment mounts.”

Flow cytometers have inherent trade-offs between speed and sensitivity. Higher sensitivity is achieved by restricting the diameter of the core stream to just a few microns through a process called hydrodynamic focusing. The excitation laser beam is then focused down to a similar diameter, resulting in a very bright (i.e., strong) signal from each cell. However, a narrower core stream reduces the rate at which the sample passes through the flow cell.

For example, this slower speed can be particularly problematic when counting very rare blood cells. This makes it critical that this higher-sensitivity configuration involves no further performance trade-offs or compromises. Furthermore, since micron shifts in a focused beam position affect overall detection efficiency, proper laser alignment is more critical in a narrow core system.

This typically makes these high-sensitivity setups less robust than conventional instruments with wider streams, thus necessitating a higher level of maintenance. In fact, optical misalignment is a leading cause of performance degradation in these instruments and is a common reason for field service. By physically placing the laser or lasers closer to the interaction zone, the optical throw distance is reduced, thus creating a more stable and reliable final product.

The cytometer manufacturer contracted Diode Laser Concepts Inc. (DLC) of Medford, Ore., a supplier of custom OEM laser-diode-based solutions, to design a new red (640 nm) laser engine for its miniaturized cytometer. DLC then turned to Siskiyou to create the adjustable mounting hardware.

This application required a mounting arrangement that would allow for 3D, linear (XYZ) adjustment of the focused laser spot. Key design choices were selecting a stage material and bearing type that would achieve the necessary adjustment range and resolution, as well as to provide lockable, long-term mechanical stability while meeting the overall package size and cost constraints.

In this case, 20-mm travel cross roller bearing aluminum stages with 100-tpi adjustability were chosen, since these standard Siskiyou-manufactured products deliver the requisite performance in the most cost-effective format.

Thermal management, however, turned out to be a major challenge. The laser diode is thermoelectrically cooled (TEC) to maintain constant output characteristics, such as beam pointing, beam shape and wavelength. The heat removed by the TEC method must be efficiently coupled through the metal stages to the base platform, which acts as the final heat sink. While better heat flow enables the instrument to more rapidly achieve thermomechanical stability at the submicron level, this thermal management should not unduly impact cost or complexity.

After several iterations, Siskiyou found a solution based on connecting the three stages via customized, thin aluminum plates. Testing at DLC showed that this approach achieved submicron-level repeatability and stability at the flow cell, with a warm-up time of less than 1 minute. For perspective, it is not uncommon for large-frame flow cytometers to require a 30-minute warm-up time for the laser and beam delivery setup, which has a significant negative impact on measurement costs and laser lifetime.

Now approved by the flow cytometer manufacturer, this new subsystem is now incorporated in the company’s next generation instrument.

50.5cr PR Image
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Grants Pass, OR – April 14, 2015 - A new series of crossed roller bearing linear stages from Siskiyou are the thinnest currently available on the market. This makes 50.5cr stages the ideal choice for space or weight constrained applications which still require the high stability, precise movement and relatively high load capacity characteristic of crossed roller bearings. In addition, these stages feature a non-influencing foil lock mechanism; this is a screw that tightens down to clamp the stage in a fixed position, without changing its existing position.

Siskiyou 50.5cr stages offer 0.5” (12 mm) of linear travel, and have a mounting platform size of 1.3” x 1.3” (33 mm x 33 mm). They are compatible with both manual and motorized actuators from Siskiyou, including 80 TPI and 100 TPI pitch screws, an ultra-high resolution differential micrometer, and the company’s 512 series motorized actuators. Two 50.5cr stages can be mounted at right angles for XY motion, and a bracket is available to enable XYZ adjustment configuration. A vacuum compatible version of the stage is also available upon request.

Siskiyou 50.5cr stages are primarily intended for high precision adjustment uses in which stage height or weight must be minimized. These include microscope applications, intracavity adjustment in lasers, and incorporation within medical devices.

Siskiyou Cleanroom PR Image
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Grants Pass, OR - March 16, 2015 - Siskiyou Corporation has expanded their Class 1000 cleanroom manufacturing space to encompass approximately 20% of their Grants Pass, OR, production facility, enabling the company to better meet the needs of OEMs incorporating Siskiyou’s products into high value optical assemblies. Specifically, the new cleanroom facilities, which also include laminar flow hoods for achieving Class 100 particulate levels, enhance Siskiyou’s ability to produce contaminant free opto-mechanical assemblies, such as are used in vacuum compatible applications, or with high power or ultraviolet lasers.

“The new assembly clean room complements other low contamination production processes that Siskiyou already has in place,” notes Siskiyou President Robert Hodge. “This includes our own, in-house anodizing facility, where we do a final, thorough pre-cleaning of machined or anodized parts, including acid baths and deionized water rinsing, before they head into the assembly clean room. These protocols are particularly important to OEMs working with high value optics, such as in blood analysis equipment, eye surgery instrumentation, and high energy physics research. It’s imperative to them to protect their investment in optics by preventing contamination from other system components, and our protocols save them the time and expense of having to perform extensive cleaning of our product when they first receive them.”

IS-OGP PR Photo
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Grants Pass, OR – February 16, 2015 - The Siskiyou IS-OGP is a simple, turnkey, modular solution (patent pending) for integrating an external laser beam into an existing microscope in optogenetics experiments that utilize a laser spot to stimulate target neurons in the cortex of lab animals. Specifically, the IS-OGP provides a means to introduce a fiber-coupled laser beam into the infinity space of leading optical microscopes having a trinocular setup (including those from Nikon, Olympus, and Zeiss), and then to position the focused laser stimulation spot (10 μm typical with 20X objective) with sub-micron accuracy, anywhere within the field of view.

The IS-OGP optomechanical module accepts a single-mode, FC connectorized fiber optic cable input from the light source, thus enabling rapid connection and “hot-swapping” of any single-mode, fiber-coupled laser. The system then internally collimates the fiber output and introduces it into the microscope through a user-specified dichroic beamsplitter. Independent x and y axis positional control of the focused laser spot is provided by two differential drive screws which permit scanning and positioning of a focused laser beam anywhere in the microscope field of view. These can be operated manually or automatically using Siskiyou’s DC servo drivers, long-proven in other demanding photonic applications, such as patch clamp experiments and laser cavity optimization.

The broadband optical performance of the integrated fiber connector and collimator makes the IS-OGP ideal for all types of optogenetic stimulation, including opsins like ChR1 and ChR2 as well as longer wavelength activators like C1V1. It is also applicable to both visible (one-photon) and near-infrared (two-photon) excitation of these opsins and other activators.

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Siskiyou Corporation, founded in Grants Pass, OR, has more than 50 years of experience providing a diverse range of micromanipulators, microscope sample positioners, motion control systems, and modular opto-mechanical mounts and positioners to life science and photonics researchers and OEMs. The company's goal is simple – to offer the highest quality product at an economical price and to support customers with superior service. Siskiyou is a vertically integrated company performing in-house all design, manufacturing, anodizing, and assembly. With quality at the core of Siskiyou's work, they have received several accolades, most recently Best Lab Manufacturers 2023 – Western USA, by Corporate Vision and Top 10 Motion Control Solutions Providers 2023 by Manufacturing Technology. These awards are possible because of the knowledge and skills of the Siskiyou team, which has an average tenure of almost 20 years, providing high-quality solutions to unique and everyday challenges.

For media only email HERE. ph:+1(541)479-8697

Siskiyou Patents Improved Method for Optical Mount Adjustment

IXF.t Patent PR Image
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Grants Pass, OR – January 6, 2015 - Siskiyou Corporation has been awarded a US Patent (Patent No. 8,925,409) for a novel actuating mechanism that significantly improves the performance of top adjusted optical mounts and linear translation stages. Specifically, the Siskiyou invention mechanically isolates the rotation motion of the adjustment screw from the moving part of the mount or stage, so that turning the adjustor imparts only linear, and virtually no torsional, motion. Some unwanted rotational movement always occurs in traditional top adjusted mounts or stages, but this innovation essentially eliminates the problem entirely. Because it dramatically enhances precision and resolution, this patented mechanism has already been incorporated into all Siskiyou IXF series monolithic, top adjust flexure mounts, and 50cr-T series top adjust, crossed roller bearing linear stages.

“Many manufacturers of laser-based instruments, from desktop flow cytometers to portable spectrometers for greenhouse gas analysis, are continually working to make their equipment more compact, rugged and reliable,” notes Robert Hodge, Siskiyou President. “Top adjusted optical mounts are an especially useful tool for making systems more compact. This is because these can be placed much closer together than traditional mounts, which require open space at their rear for actuator access. But, top adjustment necessarily requires that the actuator force be applied perpendicular to the direction of mount motion. And, this opens up the possibility that rotation of the adjustment screw will cause some slight twisting in the mount or stage in that perpendicular direction, as well as pre-loading the setup with rotational stress which can lead to shifts over time. For today’s increasingly high performance laser-based instruments, even this slight motion, at the micron level, simply can’t be tolerated. This innovation enables us to produce mounts and linear stages that can be placed close together, or even bulkhead mounted, while delivering the same superior performance and long term stability as our rear adjustment mounts.”

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Siskiyou Corporation, founded in Grants Pass, OR, has more than 50 years of experience providing a diverse range of micromanipulators, microscope sample positioners, motion control systems, and modular opto-mechanical mounts and positioners to life science and photonics researchers and OEMs. The company's goal is simple – to offer the highest quality product at an economical price and to support customers with superior service. Siskiyou is a vertically integrated company performing in-house all design, manufacturing, anodizing, and assembly. With quality at the core of Siskiyou's work, they have received several accolades, most recently Best Lab Manufacturers 2023 – Western USA, by Corporate Vision and Top 10 Motion Control Solutions Providers 2023 by Manufacturing Technology. These awards are possible because of the knowledge and skills of the Siskiyou team, which has an average tenure of almost 20 years, providing high-quality solutions to unique and everyday challenges.

For media only email HERE. ph:+1(541)479-8697