Lawrence University in 1996 received corporate and government grants to assist and advance scientific endeavors directed by the following faculty members:
Physics
Jeffrey A. Collett, assistant professor of physics, a $36,150 Cottrell College Science Award from the Research Corporation of Tucson, Arizona, and a $5,000 grant from the Exxon Education Foundation to support his research and work with students on the phase transitions of liquid crystalline materials commonly used in watches, calculators, and laptop computer displays. Collett's research focuses on continuous changes in the structure of liquid crystals at varying temperatures. Liquid crystals have unique "orderings" of molecules not found in normal liquids such as water or in crystalline solids such as ice.
Chemistry
Karen S. Harpp, assistant professor of chemistry, a $183,000 grant from the National Science Foundation's Academic Research Infrastructure Program, to purchase an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer. Originally developed for water analysis and for use in agricultural laboratories for monitoring levels of metals in food, the ICP-MS, an instrument that only a very few small colleges own, can determine within seconds the individual components of any liquid. As an advanced research tool for Lawrence faculty members and their students in chemistry, geology, and biology, the ICP-MS represents the cutting edge of new analytical methods.
Mathematics
Thomas L. Naps, associate professor of mathematics, a $60,000 grant from the National Science Foundation Instructional Laboratory Improvement Program to enhance Professor Naps' ability to teach algorithms in his computer science courses by integrating algorithm visualizations acquired off the World Wide Web. The funding will support acquisition of computer stations for students as well as a powerful web server.
Biology
Nancy A. Wall, assistant professor of biology, an $80,000 grant from the NSF Academic Research Infrastructure Program to support an advanced computer imaging system in the biology and geology departments. The system includes scanning equipment and a digital camera that can be attached to either of two new microscopes to send digitized images to a computer for analysis. As part of the grant, Lawrence also received considerable computer software from the National Institutes of Health that will be used in conjunction with the imaging equipment to analyze and quantify data.
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Lawrence University
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