Cyber-Enabling and Outreach Program

     Our goals are to enhance the current collaborations we have with researchers at other universities, and to offer both educational and research opportunities to all four-year and two-year colleges in Iowa.  This project has kind support from research leaders at three international universities involved in our past and present collaborations.

1. Professor Paul Koegerler. Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule Aachen ,Germany.

2. Professor Akhilesh K Verma, Ambedkar Centre for Biomedical Research, Univ. of Delhi, India.

3. Professor Moon-Gun Choi, Chair, Yonsei University Dept. of Chemistry, Seoul, Korea

Within Iowa, the only other university or college with single crystal X-ray instrumentation is the University of Iowa.  Two other large schools, Drake and the University of Northern Iowa, do not have these capabilities, nor do the 19 state-sponsored community colleges or 40 small private colleges.  As part of this proposal, we have started to reach out to all of these schools.  At the moment we a support from four-year colleges in Iowa who have agreed to develop research and educational collaborations.  We will establish more over the coming months.  So far no two-year community colleges have agreed to participate; however we expect that as discrete educational components are developed we may be more successful in our outreach to these schools.  We also plan to leverage the knowledge, skills, and contacts developed as part of this outreach proposal to broaden participation in the other two CIF laboratories, Mass Spectrometry and NMR.  Our impact on underrepresented groups will be particularly strong as we develop relationships with the community colleges in Iowa. 

1. Professor Margaret Legg, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, IA

2. Professor Bill Harwood, Chair, Dept. of Chemistry, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA

3. Professor Gholam Mirafzal, Drake University, Des Moines, IA

     BRUKER SMART APEX II hardware and software represent a good starting point for designing multi-user cyber-infrastructure.  Advanced remote access and control of the Frame Buffer Computer is standard, allowing the remote user to perform all operations associated with testing crystals, determining cell parameters, data acquisition and processing.  We have verified with Bruker that their software can be loaded on multiple CPU’s in the lab , as long as each CPU is only used to process data acquired in our lab.  There is no specific restriction regarding remote desktop access and use of the software.

We will be installing three web-controlled cameras (Clover Professional) providing views of the lab, and close-up views of the goniometer.  We will be enabling video-conference internet communication (Windows Messenger/SKYPE) to allow real-time communication between lab personnel who will manually select the crystal and center it in the diffractometer, and the remote user.  Our current cyber infrastructure already provides on-line X-ray safety training, user authentication and billing software, and automated central RAID5 storage and daily backup of all data. Some rudimentary crystallography training elements are posted on our website, but much more extensive and interactive training materials will need to be developed if outreach to Iowa small colleges is to be successful.  We plan to use WebCT as the distribution and access platform for the training materials we develop.  ISU has a site license for this software and centrally manages the necessary files servers, data storage devices, and automated backup systems.  There is a mechanism within WebCT for creating user exception accounts for non-ISU users. The system administrator (Mr. Randy Dalhoff) has determined that our project is a legitimate use of the WebCT system and therefore exception accounts will be approved.  He has also estimated that the increased load would have negligible impact on the system, and therefore we do not need to budget for any additional WebCT-related hardware or software expenditures at this time.

Even more critical than infrastructure issues to the success of any outreach project (but often overlooked) are the time-intensive personal contacts necessary to establish and develop these relationships.  Fortunately, we are well-positioned to overcome that problem.

In 1995 the Iowa General Chemistry Network (IGCN) was created among university, private college, and community college chemistry faculty with the goals of enhancing communication and interaction among the members and to exchange ideas about distance education and curriculum reform in Introductory Chemistry Courses. The project was funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education, and is still coordinated by Professor Tom Greenebowe, ISU Dept. of Chemistry. The group meets regularly to discuss new technologies and how they impact the development of various instructional strategies and resources.  CIF staff have presented at these meetings in the past.  Professor Greenbowe has provided us with contact information for the college and community college chemistry faculty most active in IGCN, and therefore most likely to be receptive to our cyber-X-ray outreach program.  He has also agreed to allow us to present our program in depth at the next available IGCN meeting, and has identified a well qualified post-doctoral student for us who is available to assist with our cyber-enhanced outreach program if funding is obtained.

We are planning to support Dr. Akash Mehta (or someone with equivalent knowledge and skills) on a quarter-time appointment basis for the first two years of this project.  Dr. Mehta has a strong background in inorganic chemistry and crystallography, but has more recently been involved in the field of chemical education, and the development of sophisticated web-based content, including animation. Dr. Mehta will collaborate with Dr. Arkady Ellern in the development of crystallographic and instrument operation materials appropriate for the various levels of our cyber-enabled outreach program.   Dr. Mehta will be responsible for enhancing the training content wherever possible with graphics and animation.  He will also provide the necessary human interface with four-year college and two-year community college faculty participating in our outreach program