NEWS FROM THE AIF – ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTATION FACILITY

October 2023

Space-Grown Secrets: How Microgravity Alters Plant Cell Walls

What happens to plants when they are grown in space? One thing that happens is that cell walls are modified to fit for the new microgravity environment. AIF’s Senior Research Scholar Jin Nakashima and others discovered this and other findings that shed light on the adaptive responses of plants to the unique microgravity environment of space.

Click Here

Research Proposal Awarded to Shadow Huang and Aaron Bell by CMI and the KIETS

Annually, the CMI hosts the “Think, Collaborate & Do” Ideation event, bringing together faculty, graduate students, and postdocs across departments and colleges interested in human and animal health. Congratulations to MAE Associate Professor Shadow Huang and AIF Staff Scientist Aaron Bell for being among the seven faculty awardees!

Read More

AIF User Spotlight

Ben Sekely is a 4th year PhD student in the Materials Science and Engineering department. His advisor is Dr. John Muth in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. He is researching how we can increase the efficiency of AlGaN/GaN HEMT devices using the Rigaku X-ray Diffractometer. Learn more about Ben and his research here.

Meet Ben

AIF Image Wins 2nd Place in the Envisioning Research Contest

Congratulations to Kaiying Chen, a postdoctoral researcher at NC State University, for winning 2nd place in the Microscopy category for the Envisioning Research Contest. This is a stunning image of a free-living chigger that was collected in North Carolina. AIF’s new VPSEM SU3900 was used to obtain this image.

North Carolina Chigger

Upcoming FIB Short Courses

Roberto Garcia, AIF’s operations manager, is giving 2 short courses this month. The first one is an introduction to FIB on October 6. The second is a FIB slice and view demonstration on October 27. You can learn more and sign up for these virtual short courses here.

Sign Up

How to Use the Cressington Sputter Coater at the AIF