Camarillo, Calif., June 9, 2008—California State University Channel Islands will host a week-long workshop beginning June 9 for faculty members from local community colleges and universities participating in the Virtual Instrumentation Access at CSU Channel Islands (VIA-CI) Project. This workshop and another planned for summer 2009 are part of a research project made possible by a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.
The VIA-CI Project seeks to enhance the technological preparation of science students by providing faculty at eight regional community colleges and universities—Educational Partners—with virtual access to state-of-the-art molecular structure determination instrumentation available through the Internet. The VIA-CI Project facility was created with funding from the Amgen Foundation.
“This research project will provide valuable insight into how to implement a successful remote instrument operation approach across higher education and how to encourage use of the instrumentation by Educational Partners,” explained Phil Hampton, Professor of Chemistry at CSUCI. Hampton is the principal investigator on the $200,000 National Science Foundation grant for this research, the first NSF grant awarded to California State University Channel Islands.
This week-long workshop beginning June 9 will be held for the purpose of developing three experiments or lecture demonstrations which would utilize a remotely operable gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS), gas chromatograph- electron capture detector (GC-ECD), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer, or X-ray crystallography. The goal of this workshop and the one planned for summer 2009 is to examine remote instrument operation as a cost-effective approach to providing an outstanding science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Through the remote operation approach, students at the local community colleges can operate through the internet modern instrumentation that is located on the CSU Channel Islands campus.
For more information or media inquiries contact Ceal Potts, Communication Specialist at CSUCI, 805-437-8940 or cecilia.potts@csuci.edu.
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About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands(CI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CI’s strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master’s degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research. CI has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is committed to serving students of all backgrounds from the region and beyond. Connect with and learn more by visiting CI's Social Media.