Our Apps

Hot Disk® instruments come supplied with the Hot Disk® Desktop App, whose state-of-the-art, user-friendly software has been developed in-house over many years. The Desktop App is used for controlling the Thermal Conductivity, Thermal Diffusivity, and Specific Heat Capacity measurements of our Hot Disk® instruments. In tandem with this, the same App can also set the ambient temperature by way of our range of temperature-control-unit (TCU) accessories, such as furnaces and bath circulators. Furthermore, our Desktop App may be used to automize sensor rotation via an optional, sensor-switch unit accessory. As a companion to the Desktop App we also supply the Hot Disk® Mobile Utility App for your smartphone. The Mobile App enables quick access to useful information and tools, such as our products and services and a portal to our vast publications database.

Hot Disk Desktop App on a laptop screen.

Hot Disk® Desktop App

The Desktop App controlling our Hot Disk instruments is a modular application. It allows for the optional add-on of a total of ten measurement modules for extended performance. The Desktop App convieniently allows for the scheduling of repeated measurements; automated measurements at different ambient temperatures; basic statistical analysis; and export of measurement data to xlsx- or txt-files. The Desktop App also integrates ambient temperature control and sensor shifting functionality with our temperature control and switch-unit accessories, respectively. We continuously develop and evolve our Desktop App to attain new functionality and range, and to improve it’s user experience.

We offer all our clients perennial free updates of the Hot Disk Desktop App, as long as the hardware is compatible. Please find the latest version as specified below:

Latest version: 7.6.28 (Released 2024-05-03)

Hardware requirements:

  • PC with USB port and operating system Microsoft Windows 7 or later.
  • Hot Disk instrument from year 2006 or later – specified by the first four digits in your instrument serial number.

To update the software to the latest version, please use the program’s built-in update function. If you encounter any problems please feel free to contact software@hotdiskinstruments.com.
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Hot Disk Mobile App

Hot Disk® Mobile Utility App

The Hot Disk® Mobile Utility App is a convenient companion for the on-the-go Hot Disk® Instrument user, or for those interested in our products and services. The Mobile Utility App also links directly to our customer’s published measurement data in scientific journals, to date exceeding 5000 papers.The current version of the Hot Disk® Mobile Utility App supplies four easy accesses:

  1. an introduction to the famed Hot Disk® instrument portfolio, with its range and capabilities;
  2. a portal to our extensive database of journal papers published by our customers, presenting measurement data from using Hot Disk® Instruments and sensors;
  3. information on the latest version of our renowned Desktop App for controlling Hot Disk® Instruments, with updates on new features and corrective maintenance;
  4. contact information regarding your nearest sales and support representative, offering Hot Disk® products and services.

The Hot Disk® Mobile Utility App may be downloaded free of charge via Google Play (for Android users).

Training Sessions and Seminars

We have long offered our clients regular in-depth or customized Training Sessions and Seminars on-site at the Hot Disk Head Office in Gothenburg, Sweden. These courses are given by the Application Specialist staff at Hot Disk, having Ph.D. degrees and postdoctoral experience in the fields of Material Science or Physics. The Training Sessions are tailored to the specific needs and demands of the participants at each occasion. Today we also offer these Training Sessions and Seminars as online options (more of which below).

If you are interested in attending our training programs, please inquire via our Support Inquiries Form or email to Ms. Carina Jannesson (carina.jannesson@hotdiskinstruments.com) with information of your affiliation, address and contact information, any specific application you would like to have presented or reviewed, and whether you are seeking an online or on-site option. Regarding scheduling of online sessions, we will strive to arrange our courses and seminars to segue with the location/time zones of our participants, to the furthest extent possible. Feel free to contact us or follow us on the Hot Disk LinkedIn page to receive the latest news of our current training programs.

During the initial course of the Covid pandemic, we decided to temporarily postpone our regular, on-site Training Sessions and Seminars at our Hot Disk Head Office in Gothenburg, Sweden. However, to meet the continued demand of our clients, we began offering exclusive (individual or group) Online Training Sessions and Online Seminars, by means of the Zoom, Teams and Webex streaming platforms. At present, with the covid pandemic showing signs of abating, we are looking forward to opening our doors to on-site Training Sessions and Seminars again. Simultaneously, in view of the proven popularity and convenience of our online sessions during the past couple of years, we also plan on continuing and indeed extending our online options to include dedicated as well as hybrid on-site/online events.

Photo of a Training Session with audience and teacher

Upcoming Training Sessions

Update

We are pleased to announce that our longstanding on-site training has returned to its regular progression. A first session took place in November 2023 at the Hot Disk International Distributors’ Meeting in Munich, Germany, and a second will soon take place on April 17-18, 2024 here at our facilities in Gothenburg, Sweden. There are still available seats for this event. If you are interested, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@hotdiskinstruments.com

We recommend that students (i.e. M.Sc. and Ph.D. candidates) successfully participating in one of our Training Sessions be awarded one (1) ECTS point.

Guarantee

At Hot Disk AB, we are proud of the quality and durability of our offered instruments and auxiliaries. As a standard feature and matter of course, we offer one year’s guarantee to all of our hardware components (standard-issue conditions and terms apply). This while our affiliated software is regularly updated free of charge; reflecting novel features, setup expansions and resolving of minor bugs. We also offer optional extensions of our instrument warranties, up to three calendar years. Please consult your local sales representative for relevant warranty quotes.

Upgrading

We offer our extant clients a range of instrument model upgrade options at favorable cost. This opportunity has been widely appreciated over the years. As laboratories grow and new applications ask for added performance and range, we are happy to accommodate our clients with suitable novel instrumentation. Configurations will be tailored precisely to your new circumstances and measurement wishes. Please contact your local Hot Disk representative regarding instrument upgrades.

Refurbished

As a result both of our successful upgrade program and the longevity of our instrumentation, we can to a limited extent offer new clients refurbished instruments at attractive prices. These come with full one-year guarantee, latest software, and new auxiliaries. Please inquire with your local representative as to current availability, or to queue for a specific instrument opportunity.

Contract Testing

Contract testing is often offered by our Distributors and Business Partners for their local markets. Regarding more challenging applications, clients are invited to inquire via the Support Inquiries Form with the Hot Disk AB Head Office in Gothenburg, Sweden. Our Head Office has the full range of Hot Disk® instrumentation, temperature control accessories, and auxiliaries ready at hand. Our Application Specialist staff will consult contract testing clients carefully beforehand, and thereafter conduct the measurements according to agreed plan. Upon finishing the work, they will supply a comprehensive report, including sample description, relevant sensor model, instrument employed, accrued and tabulated measurement data, and finally an informed discussion of garnered results. Depending on the time constraints and volume in question, variations in the availability of contract testing may occur.

Customer-Collaborative Adaptations

Over the years, we have engaged in numerous projects with our clients, both within industry and academia. We have helped with the adaptation and integration of our testing equipment and capabilities in novel and complex application scenarios. Many of these applications have called for facilitating high-throughput QC testing for near-line or on-line production, involving simultaneous multiple-point QC testing and robotic QC testing. Successful applications have also been arranged for material research under harsh conditions and/or limited-space environments.

Hot Disk is always interested to explore such win-win collaborations. For Hot Disk they have frequently resulted in updated hardware, improved software, and new accessories, bringing benefits to all parties involved.

Examples:

  • A QC-testing project called for the development of a customized fixture for the Hot Disk sensor, as well as for a thermally insulating background support. These, once fashioned to reliable standard, allowed for robust single-sided testing with a robotic arm.
  • Another QC-testing project prompted the development of a Hot Disk TPS 2500 S instrument with dual Hot Disk sensor ports. Once devised to exacting standard, these allowed for accurate, simultaneous dual-point testing.
  • A harsh-environment testing project involved the necessary modification of the regular Hot Disk sensor design. This, once achieved, allowed for related testing under extreme-pressure conditions inside a high-pressure tube.

If you need assistance or wish to consult with us in adapting or integrating our equipment to specific applications, please don’t hesitate to contact us! We naturally accept and encourage NDAs whenever wished for, while eager to align our instrumentation and TPS method to novel and topical applications.

Joint Research Projects

Hot Disk has long been involved in research projects with clients and partners, both within academia and industry, with topics ranging from advanced material research, novel product development, to new analytical practices. These projects concern both informal and formal collaborations, where several parties are at times involved. The projects in question are often co-funded by the partners, including Hot Disk, and frequently also by national or international funding agencies.

Examples:

  • Within material research, an on-going collaboration between Chalmers University of Technology and Hot Disk toward the development of new synthesized thermoelectric materials, produced by Hot and Cold Pressure, Spark Plasma Sintering, and Crystal Growth technologies.
  • Regarding product development, an on-going European-Union-funded project titled “Hybrid and Organic Thermoelectric Systems” (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/955837 ), toward the development of organic-based thermoelectric materials and their implementation in devices. The relevant consortium consists of several academic and industrial partners, of which Hot Disk is one of the latter.
  • Concerning analytical technology development, a project involving the structural analysis and mapping of pathologies of equine hooves, with the University of Gothenburg. Farriers have traditionally been compelled to drill and gouge horse hooves to establish the extent of relevant damage. By contrast with the Hot Disk structural probe technique, the ambition is to develop a non-invasive, less debilitating and relatively inexpensive method of analysis.
  • If you believe Hot Disk can be a valuable partner in your research project, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We will be happy to jointly assess our potential role with you, on the assumption that our leading TPS method can be of assistance in your R&D efforts. Where you strive to fashion new products and services with our aid, Hot Disk conversely stands to gain new markets for its analytical acumen.

Assisting in Graduate and Doctoral Education

Hot Disk’s background is proudly academic, going back several decades. We have had an especially close and fruitful relationship with the venerable Chalmers University of Technology. We share our alma mater’s vision of providing world-class research and education, which will ideally benefit both human interests and those of the planet at large. Scientific honesty is ingrained in Hot Disk’s ethos, as well as a fundamental philosophy of sharing. We see the sale of our Hot Disk instrumentation as the beginning of new and mutually beneficial relationships. We are also officially recognized by the Swedish Federal Authorities as a bona fide research entity, and are thus accredited to offer university-level courses in Thermodynamics, related to our expertise, as well as to offer supervision to graduate- and doctoral students. In this spirit, we have long sponsored international student exchange and education. Several of our core staff began with us as budding students or trainees from China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Taiwan, South Korea and Kazakhstan. While we have trained them to expert level, we have also learned much from their respective educational backgrounds and experiences.

Examples:

  • Hot Disk currently finances an Industrial Ph.D. student at the Department of Chemistry at the Chalmers University of Technology. His work has to date resulted in several peer-reviewed publications.
  • Hot Disk is today also responsible for co-hosting the European Union’s Marie Curie doctoral training program, which provides PhD students as well as Postdoctoral researchers fellowships toward garnering international experiences of relevant laboratory and workshop milieus.
  • Hot Disk has long contributed to IASTE (= The International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience), a respected non-profit association. IAESTE comprises several national committees representing academic, industrial and student interests in their respective countries. It offers career-focused professional internships abroad; social and intercultural reception programs; international networking and other career and employer branding activities in more than 80 countries worldwide. Hot Disk has been proud over the years to invite several IAESTE students of advanced level from abroad to intern with us.
  • Recognizing the interconnected world we all share, Hot Disk remains committed to international exchange and solidarity. We have been honored to contribute to several domestic and international programs and initiatives over the years. Hot Disk has in turn benefitted from the fresh perspectives and insights of our invited next-generation researchers and engineers.