The PIs on this project are faculty from the departments of Mechanical and Civil Engineering of the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology (ECST) from the California State University Los Angeles (CSULA). We are collaborating with the departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Geological Sciences. This effort is fully supported by the President of CSULA and the Dean of ECST. Moreover, this instrument will be made available to and will enhance the research and training activities of the well-established NSF-sponsored Center for Environmental Analysis (CEA-CREST; http://cea-crest.calstatela.edu) and the newly created Forensics Science Center. Therefore, will be used for a multitude of research and training activities with applications to fields ranging from the environmental sciences to materials science and machine design to forensics science. The ESEM will help us maintain world-class research at a predominantly undergraduate institution with a student population, which has been traditionally underrepresented in engineering and the sciences. The following are abstracts of proposed research activities for which the requested instrument will be utilized.
