This award will provide funding for the renovation of aging chemistry research facilities on the Camden Campus of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, the only public institution in the southern part of the state. The Chemistry Department is located in the Science Building, constructed in 1962, which has never been renovated. The project encompasses repairs to the ventilation, electrical and telecommunication systems, and modernizing research space and support facilities to sustain research efforts in the Materials Science component of the Chemistry Department. The existing ventilation system, installed in 1964, will be upgraded and new fume hoods installed, to support increased research activities. Demands on electrical power requirements are increasing dramatically as more instruments are being added to serve faculty in conducting investigative studies, thus the existing power supply to all research labs will be upgraded and new circuits will be installed. Computer telecommunication wiring within research space will be replaced by a system able to accommodate the immense volume of high speed requirements of data acquisition devices for the research group. Since the campus is located in area that has experienced rapid population growth, and has a large concentration of chemical and pharmaceutical industries, the department has decided to meet the demands for a graduate chemistry program. This project will enable the department to offer facilities crucial for graduate study. The improved facilities will also build upon the strengths of continued excellence in the undergraduate program that serves a large percentage of women and minority students from the inner city and the outlying suburbs of Camden.
