Page 16 - Kettering Magazine Spring 2017

expAnding reseArCh opporTuniTies

nsF grAnTs

have Created unique research

opportunities for students

B y P aT r i c k h ay e S
ince 2012, Kettering university faculty have
sreceived nine major research instrumentation

(mri) grants from the national science Foundation
– more than any university in michigan during that

period
“KeTTering is

deFiniTelY A These grants, which support the acquisition of rare and high-tech lab equipment,
leAder in Terms oF have improved the university’s research capabilities and provided more
opportunities for students to use unique equipment as undergraduates.
puTTing AdVAnCed
“Kettering is definitely a leader in terms of putting advanced technological tools
TeChnologiCAl into the hands of undergraduates,” said dr. James zhang, provost and senior Vice
president for Academic Affairs. “our students have opportunities they wouldn’t
Tools inTo
typically receive until the graduate level at many other institutions.”
The hAnds oF
here is a summary of what faculty have done with those grants.
undergrAduATes.”
nanotechnology expansion
- Dr. James Zhang, dr. ronald J. Tackett, faculty member in the Kettering university department of
Provost and physics, along with collaborators from multiple disciplines across campus have
Senior Vice President been awarded a national science Foundation - major research instrumentation
for Academic Affairs (nsF-mri) grant for $452,000. The grant allowed Tackett to acquire a high-
resolution transmission electron microscope (Tem) with energy dispersive
spectroscopy capabilities to support ongoing investigations and potentially
advance materials science and nanotechnology research and teaching at
Kettering.

The Tem was installed on campus in october 2016 and has already been
incorporated into Kettering’s academic curriculum and for industry and community
outreach.

“it’s certainly opened up the avenue for more possible collaboration with industry
and also outreach,” Tackett said.

16 Ke TT ering mA g A zine