Saint Xavier University’s Chemistry Department has recently received a $10,000 grant from the Pittsburgh Conference Memorial National College Grants Program to be used for the purchase of a picoSpin NMR Spectrometer.
The picoSpin NMR Spectrometer was created in Boulder, Colorado in 2009 and has gone by the name picoSpin 45 since December of 2012.
During the Fall of 2012 Dr. Sharada Buddha, an Associate Professor in the Chemistry Department, was approached by one of the creators of the picoSpin 45 about Saint Xavier’s possible use of the product. Dr. Buddha explained how she spoke with him and convinced him to come to Saint Xavier to give a presentation about this fairly new technology to the Chemistry Department.
From this presentation members of the department were able to take a lot of notes about how they would be able to use the picoSpin 45 for their classes.
After the demonstration Dr. Buddha went and surveyed other universities that already have the picoSpin 45, particularly North Park University which she says has about six or so. Once she had surveyed the way that North Park was using this technology Dr. Buddha knew that it would be a helpful addition to the Chemistry department and that they would need to figure out how the department could pay for it.
Back in 2007, Dr. Buddha had applied for another grant from the Pittsburgh Conference Memorial National College Grants Program that was used for biochemistry equipment. Looking back through the application process she decided that the grant could definitely be used for purchasing a picoSpin 45.
Dr. Buddha stated that, “Not only was the application process exciting, but applying for the grant was nowhere near as difficult as it could have been. There was a lot of support from the faculty of the chemistry department.”
All the faculty members showed their
support by supplying Dr. Buddha with a little blurb about how they would use the picoSpin 45 during their classes.
Then Dr. Buddha wrote up the application including the comments of the faculty. After she sent her draft to Ruth Hansen, the Associate Director of Foundations and Government Relations, who according to Dr. Buddha made the grant application more professional.
Right now the NMR that the chemistry department has is located in a back room off of one of the organic chemistry labs making it difficult for every class to be able to use the machine.
One of the positives to using this new spectrometer is the small size and easy movability of the machine, which Dr. Buddha described as being about the size of a shoebox. This means that if a chemistry professor wants to use the NMR during a class he or she will be able to bring the picoSpin 45 to the classroom.
Another pro to using the picoSpin 45 is that it is much easier to use so more students will be able to use the machine without the help of a professor.
It is these positives that Dr. Buddha highlighted when asked how the picoSpin 45 will be able to enhance the educational experience of Saint Xavier students.
She also mentioned that it is important to note that the picoSpin 45 really is meant more for educational purposes at the undergraduate level, versus higher-level research. The reason for this is that this smaller machine is not as versatile as the stationary NMR spectrometer here at Saint Xavier.
All of the hard work and dedication given by Dr. Buddha along with the support of the faculty and chemistry department as a whole paid of with the awarding of this grant that helped the department be able to obtain the picoSpin 45. This new spectrometer has recently made its way to campus and will begin being used during the Fall 2014 semester.
Catlyn Hicks
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