Maverick Science mag 2013-14

S c i e n c e S c e n e
gineers and chemistry majors
headed toward careers in drug development,
epidemiology or food
science. In addition, a $50,000
portion of the Shimadzu gift was
designated to establish the Shimadzu
Undergraduate Research
Excellence (SURE) Fund. That
fund will be used to support innovative
models in undergraduate research.
“Our teaching labs are being
employed to involve students as
early as their freshman year,” said
Joe Barrera, director of the institute.
“This assures that all students,
regardless of their chosen
major, will train and learn on the
same cutting-edge instruments
that are found in the facilities. I feel
this quote by an outside observer
puts it into perspective: ‘UTA undergraduate
students are training
on instrumentation (teaching labs)
usually reserved for advanced
graduate students, while graduate
students use instrumentation (facilities)
usually reserved for experienced
industry researchers.’ ”
For students like Doug Carlton
Jr. – a doctoral student and graduate
research assistant whose research
utilizes the Shimadzu
Center for Advanced Analytical
Chemistry (SCAAC) – the institute
presents a unique opportunity to
work with instrumentation that places no limits
on what can be achieved.
A student conducts an experiment by infusing solutions
containing analytes into a mass spectrometer
inlet to observe the degree of ion formation.
“Our teaching labs are being employed to
involve students as early as their freshman year.
is assures that all students, regardless of their
chosen major, will train and learn on the same
cutting-edge instruments that are found in the
facilities.”
– Joe Barrera,
Shimadzu Institute for Research Technologies director
“The variety of instruments housed in the
SCAAC is unmatched by any other academic laboratory
and nearly unmatched by any industrial
research laboratory,” Carlton said. “The same instruments
that students are able to operate in the
SCAAC and teaching labs are being used in all
fields – environmental, energy, food and drug,
forensic, and others – around the globe.”
The SCAAC was the first component of the institute
to open, in Spring 2012. Last summer, research
conducted at the center by Shimadzu
Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry
Kevin Schug and his lab group on potential contamination
at private water wells near natural gas
drilling sites made national and international
headlines.
“The partnership with Shimadzu brings the
most cutting-edge technologies to UT Arlington
in chemistry, biology, material science and many
more,” Barrera said. “In addition, beyond having
the instrumentation, we are maximizing its impact
by (1) having an open-access policy and being
available to all researchers not only here at UTA,
but all North Texas researchers as well, and (2)
hiring our own research staff in order to provide
sample analysis to researchers across the world.”
The University’s Animal Care Facility was renovated
and upgraded in November 2013 and became
part of the institute. The Nanotechnology
Research Center, Center for Human Genomics
and the Center for Materials Genome – which
previously were operated by different
departments – have been
or are being transitioned to the
Institute’s domain this spring.
They will be joined this year by
the Shimadzu Center for Bio-
Molecular Imaging, the Shimadzu
Center for Environmental,
Forensics and Material Science,
and the Shimadzu Center for
Brain Imaging.
The innovative research being
done by UT Arlington faculty
members and their students,
combined with the technology
that the University’s partnership
with Shimadzu makes possible,
will give UT Arlington students a
distinct advantage in the job market
once they earn their degrees.
“For students, being able to
discuss this unique, hands-on experience
is quite reassuring for
future employers,” Carlton said.
“In many university research
labs, a student is hampered by
the question, ‘How can I make
my research work with the instrument
that I have?’ At UT Arlington,
we are now challenged with
the question, ‘How can I make
the research phenomenal with all
the instruments that I have?’ ”
That’s just the kind of challenge
that scientists love, and because
of the Shimadzu Institute
for Research Technologies, it’s going to be a common
one at UT Arlington.
A student uses a pipette, or chemical dropper, to
transport liquid from a vial into a microwell plate
for use in analytical research.
Maverick Science 2013-14
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