Cameca Instruments, Inc.

Cameca Instruments, Inc., a Madison, Wisconsin-based subsidiary of Ametek Inc., supplies precision analytical instrumentation—atom probe microscopes, secondary ion mass spectrometers, and related scientific equipment—to federal research agencies as a prime contractor on full-and-open purchase orders, with no set-aside designations across its federal footprint.

Cameca operates almost exclusively as a prime contractor (94% of 127 awards tracked since 1980), delivering both capital equipment and maintenance services to civilian research agencies. The company manufactures analytical laboratory instruments under NAICS 541512 (Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing), with secondary activity in equipment repair and maintenance. Recent representative work includes a $5.68 million Local Electrode Atom Probe (LEAP) tomography system delivered to NIST under the CHIPS and Science Act (awarded February 2025, completion April 2030); a $7.97 million ultra-high sensitivity secondary ion mass spectrometer with delivery, installation, and warranty for NIST (awarded August 2022, completion March 2029); a $725,000 five-year preventative maintenance service contract for a LEAP 5000 XR at Army Research Development and Engineering Command's Aberdeen Proving Ground facility (awarded July 2024, extending through September 2029); and multiple Gold Service contracts providing maintenance and technical support for atom probe and secondary ion mass spectrometer systems across NIST and Office of Naval Research locations.

Customer concentration is extreme and research-focused. The top five funding agencies account for 65% of awards by count and 91% of combined potential value. The National Institute of Standards and Technology dominates with 34 awards valued at $28.5 million combined potential value—more than 62% of Cameca's tracked federal portfolio. The Office of Naval Research follows with 22 awards ($4.3 million), the Army Research Development and Engineering Command with 7 awards ($4.7 million), Air Force Space Command with 5 awards ($3.3 million), and Navy Strategic Systems Programs with 13 awards ($700 thousand). This concentration reflects Cameca's role as the specialized supplier of atom probe and secondary ion mass spectrometry systems and services to federal materials research facilities rather than a broad-market contractor.

Cameca places task orders against five indefinite delivery contracts with the Air Force and Army, though order volume under parent vehicles is minimal (one to two task orders per vehicle). The company's award portfolio spans capital equipment sales, maintenance and Gold Service contracts, repair services, and technical support, with ultimate completion dates extending through 2030. In the next twenty-four months, five awards totaling $1 million face completion and potential recompete, representing a limited near-term recompete exposure relative to the large multi-year systems contracts anchoring Cameca's backlog.

Service Contract Inventory data covers only a narrow slice of Cameca's federal activity—six prime records above the $150,000 threshold across fiscal years 2022–2024, capturing $790 thousand in invoiced revenue in FY2024 against 0.3 FTEs. This reflects SCI's exclusion of goods and capital equipment, which form the bulk of Cameca's federal business (purchase orders for atom probe and spectrometer systems dominate the award list). Across the limited SCI records, government-paid hourly rates on prime contracts ran a median of $1,631.27 per hour, with a range from $1,469.13 to $1,793.41 per hour, consistent with specialized technical labor on high-complexity instrumentation. Cameca does not materially subcontract on the work captured in SCI; the vendor builds its own delivery teams for federal contracts. On the sub-contractor side, Cameca provides particle analysis and spectrometry services to Mantech Advanced Systems International on trace particle analysis missions and delivers NanoSIMS and spectrometer maintenance and technical support to NASA Johnson Space Center through systems integrators.