Last year Dr. Darren Brouwer, Associate Professor of Chemistry, had a limited time offer to purchase an innovative new instrument that provides students with hands-on experience in determining the molecular structures of chemical substances. The instrument, a “benchtop” Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometer, was being offered to Redeemer with a generous, but limited-time educational discount from the supplier, Nanalysis Corporation, based in Calgary.
Still, without a grant or designated donation, the acquisition was not possible. It was around the same time that a donor approached Redeemer through the Christian School Foundation. The donor, who prefers to remain anonymous, expressed an interest in funding an item relating to science and technology and agreed to allocate funding to acquire the spectrometer.
“Due to the high cost, space and maintenance requirements of conventional NMR instruments, this key piece of scientific instrumentation has been out of reach for small universities such as Redeemer,” remarked Brouwer. “Thanks to this generous donation and the technical innovations that have brought the size, cost and maintenance of an NMR spectrometer down considerably, our students will now gain valuable experience with this important tool.”
Students in chemistry, biology, health sciences and environmental studies programs will use the benchtop NMR spectrometer mainly in organic chemistry courses and for senior research projects. Through Nanalysis’ education program, there are also opportunities to disseminate the pedagogical innovations developed at Redeemer to other universities that use the benchtop NMR spectrometer, raising Redeemer’s profile.
If you would like to know more about making a donation to benefit Redeemer students, visit our Give page. Or, contact Judith Drost Storey by email, jdrost@redeemer.ca, or by phone, 905-648-2139 ext. 4475.