CMIRT (The Center for Microanalysis and Imaging Research and Training) is a facility utilitzed by West Chester University of Pensylvania to house rather large scientific intruments that are shared amongst the WCUPA faculty; located in the Schumucker Science Center South, rooms 017-023. It currently houses the FET Tecnai TEM, or Transmission Electron Microsope, the FET Quanta ESEM with Oxford Inca EDX, or the Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope, and the Olympus FV-300 CLSM, or Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope, along other scientific equippment. Currently the utilization of CMIRT is taken up in twelve differenet courses, from fivedifferent departments, (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geology and Astronomy, Anthropology and Sociology ) and from the class years of 2006 to 2009, approxiametly 267 students have used CMIRT in order to complete various research projects; an increase of 200% during that time period, which has allowed for the production of over twenty new and original projects presentations and publications, executed and authored by university students.. In addition to this, CMIRT is used for department community outreach to Coatesville and West Chester area school districts, East Bradford Elementary school, and the Philadelphia School for the Deaf. CMIRT is, as of 2010, being used toe produce a map of the location of every grain of monaztin and zircon rock samples via the application of feature Inca software with the x-ray and black scattered electorn detectors fo the Quanta ESEM.
CMIRT is currently being adminsitrated by Dean Lori Vermeulen, the Technical Director is Dr. Fred Monson of the Geology and Astronomy department, and its activities overseen by the User Group, a committee of fourteen faculty members, of which the executive committee is Dr. Kurt Kolasinski of the Chemistry department, Dr. LeeAnn Srogi (chairwoman) of the Geology and Astronomy department, Dr. Russell Vreeland fo the Biology department, Dr. Matthew Waite of the Physics department, and Dr. Heather Wholey of the Anthropology and Sociology department.
For more information pertaining to CMIRT, please contact Dr. LeeAnn Srogi at (610)436-2721 or esorgi@wcupa.edu
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