This award, funded by the Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI), promotes the progress of scientific research and supports undergraduate education at Wentworth Institute of Technology (Wentworth). The award enables interdisciplinary teams at Wentworth to conduct externally-collaborative, project-based, interdisciplinary trace metal analysis research projects and to develop new, scientific curriculum for undergraduate students. The projects are interdisciplinary by design and promote a comprehensive approach to trace metals research. The research projects will enable undergraduates to study important issues such as the effect of trace metals on public health, safety, prosperity and welfare. Examples of topics to be studied include the identification of metals in blood, the transport of metals in soil and groundwater, the stabilization of metals in waste, and metals in alternative fuels. The projects also establish undergraduate science research as a significant and sustainable element in the new campus-wide "Externally-collaborative, Project-based, Interdisciplinary Curriculum for Learning" (EPIC Learning) currently being implemented at Wentworth. This award will also enable Wentworth faculty members to develop an interdisciplinary research model that can be used to promote science research at other undergraduate institutions.
Through this award, Wentworth will acquire a PerkinElmer PinAAcle 900T graphite furnace/flame atomic absorption spectrometer (the PinAAcle 900T) equipped with a PerkinElmer FIAS 400 Injection Flow System (FIAS 400) (collectively, the "Major Research Instrumentation") in order to identify and measure trace metals. In addition to its use in undergraduate research, the Major Research Instrumentation will also be used in faculty development and in external collaborations with community and private-sector organizations. The expected outcomes of the trace metal analysis projects are consistent with Wentworth's institute-wide learning outcomes that are envisioned under its EPIC Learning Initiative.
