This award supports the acquisition of a variable pressure scanning electron microscope and support equipment for an existing film-based transmission electron microscope. The instrumentation will provide improvements to Florida Tech University's central multidisciplinary microscopy and imaging facility, which is the only advanced microscopy and imaging facility in east central Florida. The improved facility will dramatically enhance ongoing research and training programs in sensory neurobiology, palynology and climate change, developmental biology of marine invertebrates, novel fire-retardant polymers, hydrogen storage materials and molecularly imprinted polymers, novel photonic nanosensors, and nanoscale semiconductors. Because Florida Tech is a hub of interaction between NASA, the Kennedy Space Center, private industry, regional marine laboratories, a local hospital, and state and local governmental agencies, these instruments will help grow existing partnerships and develop productive new ones. In addition to graduate training, novel undergraduate research will also be actively promoted. Through use in primary research, new training courses, and workshops and symposia, the new instruments will significantly expand research and training opportunities in the Biological and Marine Sciences, Nanotechnology, and Materials Sciences groups. These instruments will also provide an important new forum for ongoing and developing programs that promote scientific investigation to area high school students and teachers.
