Revitalization of the SJC Chemistry Instrumentation Laboratory

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。该项目将振兴位于新墨西哥州法明顿的圣胡安学院(SJC)的化学实验室。该项目包括创建一个配有用于细胞培养的层流罩的洁净室，安装两个新的通风罩，以及翻新仪器实验室。该实验室将用于研究活动和研究培训。新的能力将极大地增强SJC化学仪器实验室的研究能力。更具体地说，这些新能力将使神经接口用硅微球端基导电聚合物的研究取得快速进展，该研究由新墨西哥州INBRE计划资助。这项研究的目标是将室温硅工作扩展到生物材料应用。该项目分为四个主要领域：聚合物生长、硅在导电聚合物上的电沉积、图案化结构以及细胞附着和生物活性。层流罩将允许细胞培养以及图案化微结构。引擎盖和清洁区域将允许高水平的污染控制，这是将在SJC进行的研究所需的。此外，该实验室将有更多的能力进行各种研究活动，包括生物和化学项目。增强的实验室将提供进入最先进的研究设施，从而为本科生提供更好的研究经验，他们中的许多人来自代表人数较少的少数群体。圣胡安学院的招生人数在美国所有大学和学院(包括部落学院)中排名第五，也是向美国原住民学生授予副学士学位的排名第四的两年制院校。学生群体由26%的美洲原住民学生，13%的西班牙裔学生和61%的其他种族组成。总而言之，该项目将增强两年制学院教师的专业知识，同时提高未来转学管道中的科学家和工程师的素质。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This project will revitalize the chemistry laboratory at the San Juan College (SJC) located in Farmington, New Mexico. The project includes the creation of a clean room complete with laminar flow hoods for culturing of cells, installation of two new fume hoods and refurbishment of the instrumentation lab. The laboratory will be used for research activities and research training. The new capabilities will greatly enhance the research capacity of the SJC Chemistry Instrumentation Laboratory. More specifically, the new capabilities will enable rapid progress on research into silicon microsphere-terminated conducting polymers for neural interfaces, funded through the New Mexico INBRE program. The goal of this research is to extend room-temperature silicon work to biomaterials applications. The project is organized into four thrust areas: polymer growth, electrodeposition of silicon onto conducting polymer, patterning structures, and cell attachment and bioactivity. The laminar flow hoods will allow for cell culturing as well as patterning microstructures. The hoods and clean area will allow a high level of contamination control needed for the research that will be done at SJC. In addition, the laboratory will have increased capacity to perform a variety of research activities including biological and chemical projects.The enhanced laboratory will provide access to the state-of-the art research facility and thus, enhanced research experiences for undergraduate students, many of who are from underrepresented minority groups. San Juan College has the fifth-highest Native American enrollment among all universities and colleges (including tribal colleges) in the United States, and is the fourth highest-ranked two-year institution for awarding Associate Degrees to Native American students. The student body is comprised of 26% Native American students, 13% Hispanic students and 61% other ethnic groups. In summary, this project will enhance the expertise of the faculty at a two-year college while enhancing the quality of future scientists and engineers in the transfer pipeline.