Renovation of Carr Hall to Improve Research and Research Training Space for the Physics Department at Allegheny College

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Located in northwestern Pennsylvania, Allegheny College is a private liberal arts college that is one of the outstanding science colleges among the top private liberal arts institutions in the United States. For the past 75 years, Allegheny has ranked in the top five percent among liberal arts colleges in the number of its graduates going on to receive a Ph.D. in science and mathematics. To maintain this position of achievement, the College has created and implemented a science facilities' renewal plan to support research and research training activities of faculty and undergraduate students. Currently in the final phase of the plan, the institution, with support from the National Science Foundation, will renovate laboratory space for the Department of Physics in Carr Hall. The project involves the reconfiguration of existing spaces for faculty-students research areas and research training laboratories. The Physics Department is presently using space that was designed for chemistry, or for physics research as it was conducted thirty years ago, when Carr Hall was erected. It is imperative that the electrical, mechanical, temperature control, and fire protection systems be upgraded to conform to safety codes, and provide a conducive environment where modern research methodologies can be performed. With redesigned labs to support their research and collaborative work, five physics faculty members will be able to further enhance the quality and increase the quantity of research they conduct in the areas of low temperature microwave spectroscopy, nonlinear optics, atomic and nuclear physics and astronomy. The renovation of research space in Carr Hall will strengthen the Physics Department's capabilities in its efforts in preparing competent students that will positively impact upon the nation's scientific workforce.