TAMIU Receives NSF Grant for New Research Equipment

Texas A&M International University secured funds to purchase a Brunker low-field bench-top Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) system with a $99, 210 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The NSF awarded the grant to TAMIU for support of the project “Major Research Instrument: Acquisition of a Low-Field NMR for Research/Education at TAMIU.”

Project principal investigator (PI) is Dr. Qingwen Ni, associate professor of physics. Co-PIs are Dr. Fuming Wu, assistant professor of computer science, Dr. Hoonandara R. Goonatilake, associate professor of mathematics, Dr. Runchang Lin, assistant professor of mathematics, and Dr. Tongdan Jin, assistant professor of systems engineering.

“One of the objectives of the proposed research is to develop a non-destructive and non-invasive technique to assess bone quality by quantifying the distribution of water (bound and mobile water) within bone tissue, porosity and pore size distributions in cortical bone in vitro,” according to the project summary.

“Success of this research can provide the preliminary data basis for further studies on other bone-related research and material and medical applications,” said Dr. Ni.

Students will also benefit from the new equipment because they will be able to study and understand the physical and mathematical concepts of nuclear magnetic resonance, pursue and develop the current research including bone-related research and learn NMR technology and apply it to different applications, explained Ni.

The equipment will help revamp the science curriculum, thereby making the science program at TAMIU more competitive among minority serving institutions in South Texas and aid in the recruitment of more undergraduate students to science degree programs at TAMIU, added Ni.

For more information, please contact Ni at 326.2409, e-mail qni@tamiu.edu or visit offices in the Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center, room 373C.

University summer office hours are Monday – Thursday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Fridays from 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.

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