A scanning probe microscope will be acquired and of competency with the instrument will be developed. The microscope will be shared between the various departments in the school of Engineering at The University of Mississippi, as well as being available to other departments outside of the School of Engineering. The School will maintain graduate student support for the instrument to assure continuing proficiency with the instrument, thus minimizing the learning curve as various departments utilize the instrument for their projects. The School will also provide the on-going maintenance cost of the instrument. The microscope will have a significant impact upon the research of each department in the School of Engineering at The University of Mississippi. The microscope will enable the various research groups to delve deeper into existing projects as well as opening doors to a wealth of new research areas. Some of the current projects that would be impacted include; improvement of fiber-reinforced composite manufacturing; analysis of nitrogen oxide catalyst surfaces; examining the nature of surface-engineered reinforcing-fillers; water and C12/C14 adsorption onto mineral surfaces involved in mineral dating and well purging; and determination of the efficacy of new techniques in integrated chip development and manufacturing.
