Rapid growth in Europe and Asia has spurred nanoanalytical microscopy systems maker WITec GmbH to open regional offices in Japan and Spain.

WITec's office in Japan is located at the Kanagawa Science Park. Head of the new office is Dr. Keiichi Nakamoto, a scanning probe microscopy (SPM) veteran of more than 20 years who led an R&D group at the SPM division of JEOL.

The Spain office, located in Barcelona, will primarily serve the Spanish and Portuguese market, the company said. Area manager and office head Dr. Elena Bailo is a former member of the WITec service and support team.

Both offices will provide sales operations, pre- and after-sales technical support and product demonstrations.

"Japan and Southwest Europe are important territories for us, and the new offices are the perfect example of how we are expanding our geographic footprint to provide better local service for our customers," said Dr. Joachim Koenen, WITEc co-founder and managing director.

WITEC won a 2011 Prism Award for photonics innovation from Photonics Media and SPIE in the Test, Measurement and Metrology category for its True Surface Microscopy system for confocal Raman imaging.