Virtually all modern chemical instrumentation is controlled by computers. While software packages are continually becoming easier to use, allowing for more researchers to utilize more complex instruments, conveying some level of understanding as to how computers and instruments communicate is still an important part of the undergraduate…

The teaching of instrumental analysis for many small colleges and high schools continues to be stymied by high-cost, complicated maintenance, high power requirements, and often the sheer bulk of the instrumentation. Such issues have led us to develop inexpensive instruments as part of a SMILE initiative (small, mobile instruments for laboratory…

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is a powerful analytical tool for detection, identification, and quantification of many volatile organic compounds. However, many colleges and universities have not fully incorporated this technique into undergraduate teaching laboratories despite its wide application and ease of use in organic…

We present a simple, effective, and inexpensive spectrophotometer design that may be used in a stand-alone teaching module, and to enhance various unit operations experiments. The spectrophotometers described performed as well as a commercial option at estimating cell concentration in a bioreactor and tracking a first-order reaction. Such devices…

Access to state-of-the-art instrumentation, namely nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, early in the college curriculum was provided to undergraduate students in an effort to improve student perceptions of science. Proton NMR spectroscopy was introduced as part of an aspirin synthesis in a guided-inquiry approach to spectral…

One undergraduate chemistry laboratory at the California Institute of Technology is described, including goals of the laboratory curriculum: (1) emphasis on modern instrumental methods of analysis, separation, and characterization; (2) integration of organic/inorganic experiments; and (3) preparing students in two years to begin work in a research…

How to move science-based labs online has been one of the main obstacles associated with the development of online science programs. In the spring of 2006 and again in 2007, we organized online workshops broadly based around the central theme of Moving the Lab Online. The objective of these workshops was to provide a forum for the exchange of…

Discusses the role of the Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory of the Massachusetts of Technology, and its significance in the world of research. Applications of research on magnetism to medicine are emphasized. (SA)

Presents a description of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a center where scientists pursue research interests, where research facilities, too large and expensive for any one institution to maintain, are housed, and where unified planning for research is made in response to national and international concerns. (SA)

Greater access to scientific instrumentation, courses, and supporting materials through the Internet and Integrated Laboratory Network (ILN) has the potential to profoundly change the way in which instrumental sciences are taught. Increased access to instrumentation will provide better opportunities for students to learn and practice instrumental…

Scientists/engineers from industry, universities, and government met to: review the status of scientific instrumentation in university research laboratories; explore new approaches to alleviating problems within existing budgetary constraints; and suggest ways for the National Research Council (NRC) to help. Federal agency, corporate, and…