This month we got the last of our major instruments in place with the arrivals of the UV-vis-NIR and FT-IR. This brings our in-house instrument count to six. To keep this data organized, accessible, and secure we developing a data management plan.
What we want from our data backup plan
Redundancy: Most importantly we want to store all instrument data collected in triplicate (1) the source file saved by the instrument, (2) a group accessible cloud copy, and (3) an archived copy with limited access and permanent storage of outdated/deleted files.
After a long 6 months we’ve finally got our new bench top powder diffractometer installed! Our Rigaku Miniflex includes a Cu-K$\alpha$ source, 8-slot sample changer, and a HyPix-400 MF 2D detector. We’ve also been testing the air-free sample puck with a Be window. While none of our samples to date are extremely air or moisture sensitive, we have been able to obtain two hour scans without any noticeable signs of degradation.
First official day in lab started out with a progress update on the newly renovated student offices and some final touches to the lab space including the addition of the new mobile cabinetry for our instrument module.
Student Offices
The new student offices are located across the hall from the wet lab space and include new desks and seating for six researchers along with general office and meeting space.
New student offices nearing completion!
With Texas reopening in the wake of the pandemic, I was happy to stop by Welch Hall for the first time in over year! Despite the shutdowns, restricted access to campus, and continuing supply chain issues, UT Chemistry really pulled to together to make this happen on schedule. Ann Harasimowitz, Steven Moore, and Andrijana Vukovich are especially deserving of credit for all the progress made over the last year.
Center room of Welch 4.144
I’m very excited to announce that I have accepted a position as an assistant professor in chemistry at UT Austin!
Michael Aubrey Joining Department