The University of Mary Washington and Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) have expanded an educational partnership to encourage student interest in science, math and engineering, university and Navy officials announced.
“This is a prime example of how the university can serve the larger region as an important resource for academic support. I’m delighted that the university has been able to partner with NSWC Dahlgren Division and look forward to ever-increasing ties as we plan for the opening of a new facility adjacent to the Center next year,” said University of Mary Washington (UMW) Acting President Richard V. Hurley. “This partnership provides the seed for limitless educational opportunities that will benefit both students and faculty at Mary Washington and the scientists at Dahlgren.”
"This expansion of our educational partnership is the next step to generate University of Mary Washington students’ interest and participation in Navy research," said NSWCDD Chemical, Biological and Radiological Concepts and Experimentation Branch Head Chris Hodge. "It also allows us to attract and develop the Navy’s and the nation’s future workforce through potential internships."
As the first initiative, NSWC Dahlgren has provided a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer now housed at the university’s Jepson Science Center on the Fredericksburg campus. The high-resonance instrument will provide valuable information about the structure of molecules and will be used cooperatively by the UMW Department of Chemistry and NSWCDD scientists.
“The nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer significantly enhances the quality of our program both instructionally and in terms of our research capabilities,” said Leanna Giancarlo, chair of the UMW Department of Chemistry.
After the installation of the spectrometer, NSWC Dahlgren engineers and UMW faculty conducted training on the instrument. Janet Asper, assistant chemistry professor and an expert in molecular recognition, has collaborated with Dahlgren Division since 2007 to secure the loan of the high-resonance instrument.
"We hope this is the beginning of a long-term and fruitful collaboration," said Hodge. "We are excited about the opportunity to engage the students and greatly appreciate the commitment and tireless resolve of Dr. Asper in making this possible."
The university recently converted one of the chemistry laboratories into a nuclear magnetic resonance laboratory renovated to house the spectrometer. In 2009, Asper and Kathryn Loesser-Casey, professor of biology, received a $10,000 grant from NSWCDD, which will provide funds to purchase additional equipment and operate projects related to the spectrometer.
“With the NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectrometer in place, the chemistry department has all the modern instrumentation of any university chemistry department, and our students will be exposed to all instrumentation that they will use after they graduate from Mary Washington, either in industry or graduate school,” Asper said.