Timeline

While Microtrace is 25 years old, the idea for a laboratory that investigates unusual and atypical problems has evolved in the minds of Skip and Chris for decades longer.  Read below to learn more about some of the notable events in this history of Microtrace.

Microtrace Timeline

1954     At age 8, Skip Palenik begins experiments in his first home lab
   
1967     Skip takes his lab with him to the Army barracks
   
1980     Skip builds a home lab in his townhome basement in Elgin, IL
   
1985     Skip builds a new, larger lab in the basement of his new home
   
1989     Chris Palenik, age 12, publishes his first article in The Microscope journal
   
1992     Skip Palenik founds Microtrace
   
1996     Microtrace establishes its first laboratory outside the home
   
1997     Microtrace examines evidence in the JonBenét Ramsey case
   
      Microtrace sends its first Christmas card
     
1998     Skip appears on the Oprah Winfrey Show
   
2002     Microtrace analyzes paint evidence in the Green River serial murder investigation
   
2003     Skip Palenik is featured in his first of 10 appearances on Forensic Files
   
2004     Chris Palenik receives the Horace H. Rackham Distinguished Dissertation Award from the University of Michigan.
   
      Skip Palenik receives Distinguished Scientist Award from the Midwestern Association of Forensic Scientists (MAFS).
   
2005     Chris Palenik joins Microtrace full time
   
2009     Microtrace moves to its present, 10,000 square foot, purpose-built lab
   
      Skip Palenik is presented the Paul L. Kirk Award from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS).
   
      Jason Beckert receives the Jerome Metzner Graduate Award from John Jay College
   
2010     Microtrace is awarded its first research grant from the National Institute of Justice
   
      Skip Palenik is the receipient of the Emile Chamot Award presented by the State Microscopical Society of Illinois (SMSI)
   
2013     Skip Palenik receives the Edmond Locard Award from the American Society of Trace Evidence Examiners (ASTEE)
   
2014     Microtrace is featured on The Today Show
   
2015     Microtrace receives ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation
   
2016     Chris Palenik is invited to speak at INTERPOL in Lyon, France
   
2017     Microtrace celebrates 25 years of excellence in microanalysis

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