OSU Three-for-Three in NSF Competition
Friday, August 24, 2007
Stillwater, Okla.—The National Science Foundation has awarded grants totaling more
than $1.5M to Oklahoma State University scientists for the acquisition and/or development
of highly-specialized instruments used in research activities on campus and at Venture
I in the Oklahoma Technology and Research Park.
OSU submitted three proposals—the maximum number allowed by any one university—in
the NSF Major Research Instrumentation competition, and received grants for all three
projects. Commenting on the awards, Stephen W.S. McKeever, vice president for research
and technology transfer, said these instruments will greatly enhance OSU’s research
capabilities in areas of interest to industry, government and other universities.
● NSF awarded $605,000 to Charlotte L. Ownby, director of the OSU Microscopy Laboratory
at Venture I; Bret N. Flanders, physics department; Eliot A. Atekwana and Estella
A. Atekwana, Boone Pickens School of Geology; and Jim Smay, School of Chemical Engineering,
for the project entitled “MRI: Acquisition of a Field Emission Environmental Scanning
Electron Microscope to Enhance Research and Teaching at Oklahoma State University.”
The acquisition of the state-of-the-art field emission environmental scanning electron
microscope will improve the quality and expand the scope of the research, training
and education activities at OSU. The instrument will be housed in the OSU Microscopy
Laboratory which serves five colleges, 20 departments and eight private companies.
This equipment is a critical part of a broader effort to upgrade the microscopy and
imaging capabilities and will serve over 60 individual research and research training
programs.
The instrument will advance the research of four major research projects: geological
and materials sciences, including the investigation of the interaction of microbes
with geological materials and the electrical changes that result; the investigation
of colloidal assembly processes using a direct writing technique using colloidal gel-based
inks; and the investigation of a new technique of directed electrochemical growth
of nanowires to a biological cell while retaining the viability of the cell.
It will be available to over 200 faculty, students, postdoctoral fellows and staff;
used in courses serving culturally diverse students from multiple disciplines and
in a statewide nanotechnology course. The lab also participates in many different
programs for underrepresented groups and women pursuing degrees in science and engineering.
The instrument will be used by researchers at Langston University, in the training
of K-12 teachers, Native American students in Oklahoma, and children through the “Ugly
Bug” contest and the Stillwater Children’s Museum.
● NSF awarded $458,139 to Steven D. Hartson, Andrew J. Mort, Jose L. Soulages,
Michael A. Massiah, biochemistry and molecular biology department, OSU Division of
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources; and Robert L. Burnap, microbiology and
molecular genetics department, for the project entitled “MRI: Acquisition of an LTQ
Mass Spectrometer.”
The instrument is from a new generation of sophisticated mass spectrometers that
determine the molecular weights of molecules. Modern mass spectrometers are used
to dissect biomolecules, thereby revealing their molecular structure and identity.
These new instruments are also used in the new fields of “proteomics” and metabolomics,”
studying whole sets of biomolecules instead of studying them one at a time. These
high-throughput strategies are exciting avenues for discovering disease biomarkers.
OSU’s new mass spectrometer will use electrical fields to accumulate charged molecules
in an “ion trap.” In the trap, molecules can be broken into smaller pieces and the
sizes of the pieces can be measured. This process can be repeated up to 10 times,
drilling into the structure of a molecule. The new machine is incredibly fast—13
different molecules can be dissected per second.
Hartson manages the DNA/Protein Core Facility where the new mass spectrometer will
be located. Fifteen different researchers from various colleges will use the new
mass spectrometer and other facility resources to dissect plant cell walls and bioactive
peptides produced by insects, fungi and mammals; to identify the specific proteins
that govern plant and animal disease processes; to identify protein modifications
that regulate the transport of fats, photosynthesis and mammalian development; and
to foster student research and education.
● NSF awarded $446,258 to Regina Kalchgruber, Radiation Dosimetry Laboratory at
Venture I; Alexander R. Simms and Ibrahim Cemen, Boone Pickens School of Geology;
and Eduardo G. Yukihara, physics department, for the project entitled “MRI: Development
of a Confocal Instrument for Spatially Resolved Luminescence Measurements in Geologic
and Archaeological Dating and Radiation Dosimetry.”
Kalchgruber proposed development of an innovative instrument that will apply the
principles of confocal microscopy to luminescence dating. Optically stimulated luminescence
dating is a well-established technique for age-dating the last sunlight exposure of
sediments (i.e. time since deposition). The technique measures the luminescence emitted
from the sample during stimulation with light in the laboratory.
The instrument will consist of an optical setup including lasers for stimulation
of the samples, a confocal arrangement for laser scanning and detection of luminescence
from a controlled sample volume at high-spatial resolution, and facilities for irradiation,
bleaching and temperature control. The instrument will be controlled with a PC and
allow fully-automated measurements over a wide temperature and wavelength range.
Commercially available luminescence readers and techniques require the grains
to be removed from their surrounding material, thereby destroying any spatial information.
This methodology excludes many geological and archaeological samples such as rocks,
where only the outer surface is exposed to sunlight. The confocal instrument enables
measurements with bulk samples and provides high-spatial resolution. This will allow
the technique to be applied to many previously undatable deposits where the precise
geometry is of importance.
The instrument will be the second surface dating instrument worldwide and the first
in the United States. It will have a broad impact on the academic research infrastructure
nationwide and in the EPSCoR State of Oklahoma. The facility will expand the application
breadth of the luminescence technique and create many new interdisciplinary research
activities with external users, promoting cross-disciplinary collaborations with a
broad, multidisciplinary user base.
Oklahoma State University—an active 100M+ research university located in Stillwater,
Oklahoma—is home to researchers working in the fields of biotechnology, energy, nanotechnology,
sensors and more to develop innovative solutions for application and commercialization
in the global marketplace. For more information about OSU’s research programs, visit
www.vpr.okstate.edu/researchcentral.
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