State-of-the-art microscope gives SWAG视频 chemistry and physics students an upper hand in research
Students at the SWAG视频 are getting an upper hand on research projects by having access to an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM).
SWAG视频 is the only school in Northern New England to have the state-of-the-art AFM.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unique for a school like SWAG视频 to have this,鈥 says Eva Rose Balog, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Physics. 鈥淥ur students are getting hands-on training with it.鈥
The AFM is an extremely high-speed, high-resolution, versatile instrument for decoding and manipulating materials.
It processes at the "nanoscale" level. According to Balog, the nanoscale refers to what goes on at the scale of billionths-of-a-meter鈥攁bout 90,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. This is the scale of atoms and molecules, including molecules such as DNA strands and individual proteins.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the fastest microscopes in the world, which means you can do the kind of studies you couldn鈥檛 do just ten years ago, even with the best instruments,鈥 Balog says.
Reliably analyzing liquids was very difficult using the lab鈥檚 previous microscope. That鈥檚 not the case with the AFM.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the difference of being able to get back into the liquid research game,鈥 says James Vesenka, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Chemistry and Physics.
The AFM allows researchers to get a new perspective on things they have already investigated by providing much more detail.
鈥淎nytime you have a new tool, even if something has been characterized before, you鈥檙e going to learn something new,鈥 Balog says. 鈥淭he deeper you look at something, the more you鈥檙e going to learn.鈥
Wynter Paiva (Biochemistry and Medical Biology 鈥20) says her experience using the AFM will be invaluable as she moves on in academics and her professional career.
鈥淲e can image live cells and see how they interact with certain drugs, giving us insight and foresight before we introduce things to the body,鈥 Paiva says. 鈥淚 think the experience using the AFM and interpreting data from it will help me stand out when I鈥檓 applying to medical schools.鈥
Vesenka says this is the kind of hands-on learning that sets SWAG视频 graduates up for future success.
鈥淭hey get exposure to state-of-the-art research technology, which always improves their competitiveness,鈥 he says.
