Rare research equipment to benefit four state universities

Dr. Ralph Powe, vice president for research, and Dr. Ken Brown, Chemistry Department head, are excited about the potential of the Mississippi Magnetic Resonance Facility.

The Mississippi Magnetic Resonance Facility, housed at Mississippi State's Hand Chemical Lab, features a Bruker 600 Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer. The 2,500-pound instrument allows researchers to delve into the fundamental chemical structure of matter.

The $1 million research facility is funded by the National Science Foundation and matching funds from Mississippi State and other Mississippi Research Consortium members— Jackson State, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Southern Mississippi.

"This facility enhances the ability of researchers at our institutions to move science forward in their fields, especially in the study of pharmaceuticals and composite materials," said Dr. Ralph Powe, vice president for research at Mississippi State and consortium president. “"heir work also will directly benefit our students."

Instruments like the one at Mississippi State are in medical centers at Duke University, Emory University, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “We secured funding because of the unusual collaboration among our universities,” Powe said.

Researchers will be linked to the spectrometer through the Mississippi Computer Network, a high-speed connection among the universities, Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station at Vicksburg.

Consortium members have received NSF funding since 1989 through the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. The program funds research on chemistry and materials science at the four campuses and the University Medical Center.