Researchers receive funds for state-of-the-art microscope

College of Science & Engineering (CSE) professors, including Associate Professor R. Lee Penn from the Department of Chemistry, are among those receiving university research investment funding for key infrastructure improvements and additions that will support research.

More than $12 million derived from the university's share of technology commercialization royalties will provide funds for a variety of key infrastructure enhancements, ranging from imaging instrumentation, to multimedia facilities, sophisticated data analysis equipment, and performance space for the arts.

Penn, along with other CSE co-investigators, will use the funds to acquire a new generation, state-of-the-art, aberration-corrected, high-resolution analytical scanning and transmission electron microscope (HR-(S)TEM). This electron microscope will fill a critical need for a cutting-edge instrument to push the limits of researchers' understanding of the fundamentals of nano-scale materials via atomic, and even sub-atomic level imaging and spectroscopy.

The effort to obtain this funding was led by Principal Investigator K. Andre Mkhoyan from the Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science. In addition to Penn, co-investigators include Steve Campbell, Electrical and Computer Engineering; Allen Goldman, Physics; Uwe Kortshagen, Mechanical Engineering; and Chris Leighton, Chemical Engineering & Materials Science.

Additional information, including the news release from the Office of the Vice President for Research, is available on the CSE website.