Revitalization of the SJC Chemistry Instrumentation Laboratory

San Juan College, Farmington NM

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This project will revitalize the chemistry laboratory at the San Juan College (SJC) located in Farmington, New Mexico. The project includes the creation of a clean room complete with laminar flow hoods for culturing of cells, installation of two new fume hoods and refurbishment of the instrumentation lab. The laboratory will be used for research activities and research training. The new capabilities will greatly enhance the research capacity of the SJC Chemistry Instrumentation Laboratory. More specifically, the new capabilities will enable rapid progress on research into silicon microsphere-terminated conducting polymers for neural interfaces, funded through the New Mexico INBRE program. The goal of this research is to extend room-temperature silicon work to biomaterials applications. The project is organized into four thrust areas: polymer growth, electrodeposition of silicon onto conducting polymer, patterning structures, and cell attachment and bioactivity. The laminar flow hoods will allow for cell culturing as well as patterning microstructures. The hoods and clean area will allow a high level of contamination control needed for the research that will be done at SJC. In addition, the laboratory will have increased capacity to perform a variety of research activities including biological and chemical projects. The enhanced laboratory will provide access to the state-of-the art research facility and thus, enhanced research experiences for undergraduate students, many of who are from underrepresented minority groups. San Juan College has the fifth-highest Native American enrollment among all universities and colleges (including tribal colleges) in the United States, and is the fourth highest-ranked two-year institution for awarding Associate Degrees to Native American students. The student body is comprised of 26% Native American students, 13% Hispanic students and 61% other ethnic groups. In summary, this project will enhance the expertise of the faculty at a two-year college while enhancing the quality of future scientists and engineers in the transfer pipeline.