PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (December 1, 2022) — Dr. Sameh Abdelwahed, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry atPrairie View A&M University (PVAMU), was awarded $112,187 by the Department of Defense (DoD) for Acquisition of Ultraviolet Visible Near Infrared Spectrophotometry Instrumentation (UV-Vis-NIR). The grant is part of a larger fund the DoD has designated to award to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).
Dr. Abdelwahed and his team are excited about the opportunity this funding provides the PVAMU Chemistry department.
Sameh Abdelwahed, Ph.D Assistant Professor, Chemistry
“Getting this grant was an important step for our research,” said Abedwahed. “It is important to get all the facilities and tools that are needed in order to be productive. My research interests lie within the broad category of organic synthesis that impacts such areas as medicinal chemistry, materials science, and reaction mechanism.”
The equipment grant award includes five co-principal investigators from the Chemistry department at PVAMU: Gururaj M Neelgund, Ph.D., assistant professor; Gina M. Chiarella, Ph.D., assistant professor; Harshica Fernando, Ph.D., assistant professor; Marco Giles, Ph.D., assistant professor; Ananda Amarasekara, Ph.D., professor and head of the Chemistry and Physics Department..
UV-Vis-NIR is used to measure reflectance, absorbance, and transmittance of liquids and solids. It can be applied to characterize semiconductor materials, coatings, glass and many other research and manufacturing materials. Currently, the analytical instrumentation is outdated and should be improved to facilitate continued and new successes within the department with respect to research and research education.
“As an HBCU, Prairie View A&M University has been taking the steps necessary to play its part and contribute to the pool of existing scientific knowledge,” said PVAMU Vice President of Research & Innovation Magesh Rajan, Ph.D., P.E., MBA. “The addition of new, and more up-to-date, instrumentation is at the core of this effort and will surely help to solidify the active and vibrant research programs at PVAMU.”
The new instrumentation will enhance the chemical optical characterization capabilities for continuation of the university’s research and education programs. Specifically, the investigators and co-investigators who received this award have a collective interest in the expansion of analytical facilities by the procurement of UV-Vis-NIR.
In addition to their own research ventures, faculty provide opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to participate in research activities such as Organic Chemistry laboratory, Instrumental Analysis, Analytical Chemistry, and Spectroscopy. Better training in the classroom is expected to have a significant impact on students’ abilities to transition to the research laboratory.
“More advanced facilities for the Department of Chemistry will aid in improving recruiting efforts of high school students within the department, as well as for other STEM fields of study,” said Abdelwahed. “Faculty participate in summer programs such as the American Chemical Society REU program and Project SEED. Each of these programs has been essential to introducing youth from surrounding areas to their first laboratory research opportunities. By taking advantage of new instrumentation, we will have a greater ability to introduce them to cutting-edge research, or simple fundamentals, at a much earlier time so that it may have more of a lasting impact on their growing interests in STEM education.”
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Jenna Craig