The collaboration between the INSTAP Study Center and the Geology Department of the University of Patras has been long and fruitful; thanks to Prof. Ioannis Iliopoulos we have had several joint projects in archaeological science (Syme Viannou, Gournes, Cypriot pithoi, West Cretan clays), three petrography interns, three masters and a B.A. thesis on Cretan pottery, and recently… a friend in need is a friend indeed!
Last year we experienced a major malfunction of our over 20-year non-stop working equipment and the specialized technicians in Patras came to our rescue. The lapping plate and one of our vacuum pumps were transported to the Mechanics Lab Supporting Research at the University of Patras (https://mechwork.gr/) and in very little time our equipment was back in place fully functional. Many thanks to our colleagues and we are looking forward to new collaborative projects.