Research

Dr. Max Fontus

The Undergraduate Medical Academy, UMA, research laboratory is under the supervision of Dr. Max Fontus. The research lab is located on the third floor of Harrington Science Building. The lab spans rooms 301 – 304. Rooms 303 and 303B form the analytical core of the lab. This core can accommodate six scientists concurrently and contain the following federal-grade laboratory equipment:

  • fume hoods,
  • UFLC,
  • LC-MS 2020 Shimadzu mass spectrometer system,
  • centrifuge,
  • carbon dioxide incubator,
  • digital microscope,
  • analytical balance,
  • digital voltmeters and pH meters,
  • oxygen sensors,
  • autoclave, and
  • standard laboratory necessities.

A DL2800 Trilogy Series with Standalone Access Control System secures these resources. The analytical component of the laboratory is fully equipped with state-of-the-art videoconferencing equipment that facilitates virtual meetings as well as virtual seminars.  The Computational Modeling Laboratory (CML) is equipped with the following:

  • facilities  to accommodate six undergraduate students and two graduate students/postdocs/visiting faculty;
  • 5 Mac Pros with the following specs:
  • Two 2.66GHz quad-core Intel Xenon processor,
  • 16GB (8x2GB) Memory,
  • NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512MB Graphics Card,
  • a 1TB and 7200rpm serial ATA hard drive, and
  • an AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi Card;

The laboratory has an Xserve CTO with options: one 2.66GHz quadCore Intel Xenon Processor, 12GB (6x2GB) Memory, on-board SATA/SAS Controller Raid Card, two hard drives with 160GB Serial ATA ADM @ 7200rpm each, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 256MB built-in graphics, and a Dual 750W power supply; an IMAC with 2.7 GHZ Quad core, 4GB memory and 1 TB Hard drive; a Promise SmatStor DS4600 4X1TB storage capacity.

Research Interests:

  • Electrophysiological/Metabolic Modeling of biochemical/physical systems,
  • Frequency-based spectral decomposition of light energy,
  • Electrical conductivity of Bulk Metallic Glass,
  • Microbial Fuel Cell as a sustainable renewable energy source, and
  • integrated and individualized STEM education.