Grant enhances Polymer Science labs

by Daniel J. Fitzgibbons, Chronicle staff

eaching and research in Polymer Science and Engineering received a boost Aug. 20 as the Mettler Toledo company awarded a competitive grant worth more than $140,000 to the department.

     The package, which includes thermal analysis instruments, computer system software, accessories and training, installation and service, will be used to enhance the Polymer Characterization and Polymer Synthesis laboratories, according to assistant professor E. Bryan Coughlin, the lead principal investigator for the proposal.

     The state-of-the-art equipment "will be used in an instructional lab for first-year graduate students," said Coughlin. "It allows us to modernize our analytical facilities" and in turn, support ongoing research activities.

     The award was presented to Coughlin and professor Sam Gido, the co-PI, during the fall American Chemical Society Exposition in Boston.

     Now in its third year, the Mettler Toledo Thermal Analysis Education Grant is presented in honor of Edith A. Turi, a renowned educator and expert in the field of thermal analysis at the Polytechnic University in Brooklyn.

     Submitted late last year, the proposal for a shared experimental facility linking the two PSE labs was prepared by Coughlin and Gido in cooperation with Frank Karasz, the department's Silvio O. Conte Distinguished Professor. The PSE pitch apparently impressed the independent review board, which was led by Turi.

     "It is to my great satisfaction that applications for the Mettler Toledo Grant are increasingly coming from high level institutions with many distinguished educators and research scientists," said Turi. "The institution selected this year was again particularly noted for its high reputation, proven real interest and experience in educating thermal analysts."

     Privately, said Coughlin, "We were told our proposal was head and shoulders above the others."

     The researchers are awaiting the arrival of the instrumentation, including a differential scanning calorimeter and a thermogravimet-ric analyzer. "It'll be hard work, but we're hoping to get it in place for this semester," said Coughlin.