Magazine Fall/Winter 2012 - Austin College Magazine

Coming to FruitionBehind the Scenes with Bob the BuilderOn October 29, Hunt Construction—general contractor for theIDEA Center—hosted youngsters and their parents for a tour with“Bob the Builder” on the construction site of the College’s newscience complex.Outfitted in hard hats, the special guests got an inside look atthe building in progress, and learned a few fun facts about theenormous scale of this 103,000-square-foot facility. For this stateof-the-art,LEED-certified structure, this is the first of manyoutreach events to be offered to the community as the IDEA Centeropens its doors for learning and collaboration.IDEA Center Fun FactsElectrical:Conduit47,500 linear feet (9 miles) = North Sherman to DenisonWire333,000 linear feet (63 miles) = Sherman to DentonPlumbing & Mechanical:Piping81,450 linear feet (15.4 miles) = Sherman to Van AlstyneConcrete:Ready mix8,262 cubic yards = 33,048,000 pounds= 2,754 average male elephants▲A “green” deal for allAustin College chemistry students and faculty have a new tool forlearning—one that will transform the laboratory experience in severalcourses. In October, technicians installed a Bruker-AXS SMART/CD x-raydiffractometer in the inorganic chemistry lab in Moody Science. Thisadvanced instrument aids in determining molecular structures of organicand inorganic compounds by analyzing the scattering pattern createdwhen an x-ray beam passes through the subject material (typically singlecrystals). The new addition completes the recently-added crystal growthand determination laboratory in Advanced Inorganic Chemistry. Themachine will enhance chemistry courses and undergraduate research,while placing the College among an elite group of liberal arts colleges toown such equipment.The installation was made possible when Dr. Brad Smucker,associate professor of chemistry, brokered a generous offer involvingTexas Christian University and the machine’s manufacturer, allowing TCU’scurrent diffractometer to be moved to the Austin College campus as TCUmade room for new equipment. The only cost to Austin College wastransporting the instrument from Fort Worth to Sherman, and that’s whereBob Wright, senior trustee and former Board of Trustees chair, steppedin to underwrite the moving costs.Happily, the move went smoothly, and fall semester students usedthe machine to examine crystal structures and gather data.“You could think of this situation as a ‘green’ use of this instrument,”said Smucker. “It traveled a much shorter distance (to Sherman versusreturning to the Bruker-AXS plant in Wisconsin), is functional (it wouldhave been dismantled in Wisconsin), and vastly improves our teachingand research capabilities here at Austin College. It’s just a win for allparties involved!”Among the many benefits of the new diffractometer is the enhancedexperience for Austin College students to train on advancedinstrumentation while examining data that has become the standard forpublication in many journals. More than 60 percent of science majors atAustin College have some type of formal undergraduate researchexperience before graduating.Fall/Winter 2012 | 33