The Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR) now offers comprehensive glassware design, fabrication and repair services in addition to its world-class materials research facilities.

The CCMR Glass Shop, located in the basement of S.T. Olin, Room B-66, specializes in providing high-quality scientific glassware services to researchers and students. 

Professional flame worker and artist Sean Donlon joined Cornell in June as the glass shop’s scientific glassblower.

“No project is too simple, too technical or too complex for Sean to complete,” says CCMR lab manager Jon Shu. “Flame working is a rare skill that takes years to master. A scientific glassblower must be familiar with many types of glasses and fixtures. Sean’s expertise and extensive training, not to mention his artistry, will be a valuable resource for the research community at Cornell and beyond.”

CCMR is an open user facility, and the fee-based services provided by the CCMR Glass Shop are available to researchers and the general public.

Donlon comes to Cornell from Virginia, where he was an instructor at Virginia Commonwealth University and provided scientific glassware services through his independent design lab. Donlon’s award-winning glass artwork has been featured in American Craft magazine, Home & Design magazine, New South Finds and Richmond Magazine. Works by Donlon are held by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Cornell faculty, staff and students are invited to a public open house on Monday, July 15, from 10 a.m to 3 p.m. at S.T. Olin, Room B-66, to meet Donlon and learn about his craft. The open house is open to everyone. Pay-by-Cell parking is available in the parking lot on Forest Home Drive across from the Human Ecology building, the Martin Y. Tang Welcome Center and other locations on the Ithaca campus.

To schedule a consultation with Donlon at the glass shop or at an on-campus lab, visit the CCMR Glass Shop webpage. Inquiries may be sent to ccmr-glass-shop@cornell.edu.