Coe College Receives $390,389 NSF Award for Research Device

By Diane Heldt, Reporter

Student body president Justin Nylin speaks to potential students and moms outside Stuart Hall at Coe College as part of Iowa Private College Week on Monday, Aug. 1, 2011. Private colleges around the state will host tours and events for perspective students throughout the week. (David Scrivner/SourceMedia Group)

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By Liz Blood

Story Created: Sep 5, 2012 at 7:12 PM CDT

Story Updated: Sep 5, 2012 at 7:23 PM CDT

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Coe College in Cedar Rapids has received a $390,389 award from the National Science Foundation to purchase a new hybrid Raman Spectrometer/Scanning Probe Microscope device, officials said Wednesday.

The instrument will allow Coe faculty and students – as well as researchers from Cornell College, Mount Mercy University, Rockwell-Collins and Square D (Schneider Electric) – to carry out simultaneous measurements on a single sample without the need to move it.

Coe physics Professor Mario Affatigato is the principal investigator for the project, with co-principal investigators chemistry Professor Maria Dean, chemistry Professor Steve Singleton and physics Professor Steve Feller.

The ability to take multiple measurements without moving the sample is particularly important in doing nanoscale work, where moving the sample often results in the loss of information regarding the location of changes on the surface, Affatigato said.

The new technology will enhance the on-campus scientific research opportunities for Coe students, who get access to scientific instruments that are oftentimes reserved for graduate students at other institutions, officials said. It will be the most state-of-the-art instrument in the sciences at Coe, Affatigato said.

The new instrument is expected to be installed in the newly renovated Peterson Hall of Science in February, with full operation expected in the summer of 2013.

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