
Ogden College Electron Microscopy Facility
To provide training and equipment so that anyone within Ogden College can prepare and observe samples using electron microscopy.
PEOPLE
Leadership
The Ogden College Electron Microscopy Facility is a support facility funded by the college. Policy and funding decisions are made by the Dean’s office and the faculty who use the facility.
Others
The facility is used by faculty and students from Architectural and Manufacturing Sciences, Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, Geology and Physics.
OPPORTUNITIES TO GET INVOLVED
For Students
Several courses in Ogden College include introductory tours of the EM Facility. Students in BIOL212 “Genome Discovery and Exploration” go further with each student using the facility to view the bacteriophage (viruses of bacteria) that they individually isolate and characterize in this course.
If students are involved in a research project that requires electron microscopy, they can learn just what they need to know to complete their project.
If students wish to become fully proficient in using both the SEM and TEM, they can enroll in BIOL 404 “Electron Microscopy”.
For Faculty
Faculty are welcome to learn how to use the equipment, however they generally find it easier to send their students for training. There is no charge to faculty or students to use the facility for research or teaching.
For the Community
Community groups can arrange for tours tailored to their interests and time.
Local businesses can use the facility for a fee through the Advanced Materials Institute (Pauline Norris), and the Thermal Analysis Lab (Houyin Zhao).
As part of a grant to Dr. Rodney King, the facility is used by students from more than a half dozen colleges and universities in Kentucky to view their bacteriophage isolated as part of their “Genome Discovery” courses.
The facility itself is its biggest success story. It started with used and surplus equipment in the 1970’s. A grant for the first new equipment, an SEM, was awarded in 1995. In 2013, a group of faculty led by Dr. Hemali Rathnayake (Chemistry) was awarded $425,000 for a new TEM. Then in 2014, a group led by Dr. Muhammad Jahan (Architectural and Manufacturing Sciences) was awarded $193,000 for a new SEM.
Know of a way this research center is making a difference? Let us know on the Submit Info tab.
During the past year the two microscopes at the facility each received over 800 hours of use involving over 300 students, faculty, staff and visitors. Each microscope had over 30 users who had gone to the trouble to become fully trained– a time investment of 8-16 hours of lecture, practice and testing.
o submit an Outcome or Publication, use the Submit Info tab.
For more information about this research center, contact John Andersland at (270) 745-5993 or john.andersland@wku.edu