UT Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) operates numerous research core facilities that house specialized scientific instrumentation accessible to researchers across campus with the goal of providing the best tools and technical support for achieving project objectives. Additionally, other facilities that support research within the university’s colleges and research units offer advanced technical and consulting services, providing essential support services to research teams in the form of training, data collection, and analysis. The most relevant facilities are highlighted below.
The mission of Texas Materials Institute (TMI) is to provide faculty and students at UT Austin with the instrumentation and associated infrastructure needed for state-of-the-art materials research. To fulfill this mission, TMI manages a variety of core central facilities—all supported by a Ph.D.-level facility manager—including thin film and nano/micro fabrication, x-ray scattering, scanning, transmission electron, and atomic force microscopy, surface and bulk spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and electronic and optoelectronic testing.
The Microscopy and Imaging Facility provides extensive microscopy equipment and services for ultra-structural analysis of many sample types. The facility offers assisted use and training on its instrumentation as well as consultations on microscopy- and spectroscopy-related research. The facility includes equipment for ellipsometry, microtomy and cryogenic sample preparation, elemental analysis, immunogold labeling, freeze-substitution, histology and immunohistochemistry. Also available are computers with specialized software to assist with image processing (e.g., deconvolution, particle counting, 3D reconstruction). This facility, a Nikon Center of Excellence, includes a suite of state-of-the-art instrumentation, the ability to beta-test novel technologies to support cutting-edge research efforts, and full service and support from Nikon.
The Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials (CDCM) hosts over 3,000 square feet of lab space in the state-of-the-art EER building (Figure 1) at UT Austin. The facility provides several advanced tools for materials synthesis and characterization, supporting research on nanocomposite materials. CDCM contains instrumentation for rheometry, chemical synthesis, and optical characterization (e.g., dynamic light scattering).
The McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering operates a machine shop for designing, fabricating, machining, and repairing customized equipment. The shop is staffed with a full-time machinist who provides design consulting and fabrication services.
The Center for Mechanics of Solids, Structures, and Materials operates the Fracture Mechanics Laboratory for studying fracture, as well as the Mechanics of Solids and Materials Laboratory for characterizing the mechanical properties of solids and materials.
The Environmental and Water Resources Engineering (EWRE) Analytical Service Center, directed by Lynn Katz, offers support for the analysis of bulk constituents and trace contaminants within water, soil, and air matrices. This facility operates on a user fee basis and is open for training and use. The center is supervised by a Ph.D. level analytical chemist (or equivalent). In addition, an endowment for the center provides partial support for equipment maintenance and replacement. A wide range of analytical instrumentation is available for sample preparation and determination of the concentrations of all components within the MFP, as well as measuring physical and chemical properties of particles.
The Department of Geological Sciences resources include labs for geochemistry, mass spectrometry, thermo- and geochronology, and mineral physics, a morphodynamics lab, and a high-resolution X-ray computed tomography facility (UTCT). UTCT offers facilities for nondestructive visualization of features in the interior of opaque solid objects and for obtaining digital information on their 3D geometries and properties.
The College of Natural Sciences Macromolecular Crystallography Facility (Center for Biomedical Research Support) provides instrumentation for determining the three- dimensional structures of macromolecules using X-ray diffraction. Macromolecular samples may be submitted to the facility for crystallization experiments, and training and/or assistance with these instruments are available for interested users. The facility also offers time-programmed imaging of a crystallization plate on multiple days following the plate set-up.
The Department of Chemistry's X-ray Diffraction Lab is a multi-functional facility that services the needs of the UT-Austin scientific community. The X-ray lab has a variety of equipment for both single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction experiments. Samples may be submitted to facility staff for analysis, and training is also available for individual users to run their own samples.
The Department of Chemistry's Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility provides instrument access and support to students and researchers from any department on campus. Spectrometers are available for hands-on access following training by facility staff. The lab offers support for a wide variety of NMR experiments including variable temperature, 2D, solid state, and diffusion experiments. The NMR facility is located in the Norman Hackerman Building (NHB), with eight spectrometers. All instruments are professionally maintained, and technical staff provide training for students. Instrument usage is billed according to instrument time, number of samples, and staff time.
The Department of Chemistry's Mass Spectrometry Facility offers support for the analysis of a wide variety of analytes using mass spectrometry-based techniques. The lab houses instrumentation and offers expertise in multiple ionization techniques including ESI, APCI, EI, and CI, enabling investigation of a wide range of molecular structures.
The Center for Biomedical Research's Biological Mass Spectrometry Facility provides services, self-service equipment, and collaborative research for the detection, characterization, and quantification of proteins and other biomolecules (including proteins, peptides, oligosaccharides and oligonucleotides or their conjugates). It provides identification and quantitation of metabolites by LC-MS/MS and LC-MS, protein sample preparation for mass spectrometry analysis and subsequent identification by MALDI-TOF MS (peptide mass fingerprinting) or nanoflow LC-ESI tandem mass spectrometry (nano LC-MS/MS). The facility staff also provide assistance with data interpretation.
The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) develops and deploys an integrated cyberinfrastructure of advanced computing resources to enhance the research and education activities of the faculty, staff, and students at UT Austin, in Texas, and across the US through its involvement in various state and national programs. Its infrastructure (Figure 2) includes high performance computing (HPC) systems, advanced scientific visualization systems, data servers and storage/archival systems, grid and cloud computing servers, IT systems, high-bandwidth networks, and a comprehensive software environment comprising applications, tools, libraries, databases, and grid software.
- TACC’s main offices are located in the Research Office Complex (ROC) at the UT Austin J.J. Pickle Research Campus (PRC), nine miles northwest of the main UT campus. The ROC is approximately 90,000 square feet, with about 40,000 square feet allocated to TACC, including nearly 100 offices for staff and a workspace for students, as well as six conference rooms and two large training/seminar spaces. An attached annex completed in May 2016 provides 65 additional offices, five additional conference rooms, a new state-of-the art training facility (bringing the total to three), an auditorium, additional rack integration space for the datacenters, and an additional data visualization laboratory.TACC operates two data centers on the Pickle Research Campus (PRC). The ROC machine room consists of 15,000 square feet of air conditioned, raised floor space, capable of supporting up to 10 MW of IT load. The dedicated chilling/utility plant that serves the machine room can produce 3,750 tons of cooling via chilled water, and a one-million-gallon thermal storage tank reduces power costs and boosts efficiency. The plant has redundant chillers and can operate the datacenter for up to eight hours at full load with no chillers functioning, using just the stored chilled water. All power feeds to and from the plant and datacenter are underground. PRC itself has dual power feeds, approaching the campus from different directions that feed a redundant pair of 27 MW transformers. The data center is set up with In-Row Chillers (IRCs) in an enclosed hot aisle configuration, which brings chilled water next to each compute rack. A 400 KVA UPS covers critical storage systems with backup power. The machine room is monitored 24×7 by onsite TACC operations staff and UT facilities personnel. Two-factor card access-plus-pin systems control access to the datacenter. The machine room also includes several experimental alternative cooling systems, including several Green Revolution immersive cooling racks. In the Commons Building on PRC, TACC operates another machine room that provides 3,800 square feet of raised floor and a robust power and cooling infrastructure. TACC maintains a footprint in the UT Arlington datacenter in the Dallas metro area about 200 miles north of Austin for online data replication on the Corral system.
- TACC operates two data centers on the Pickle Research Campus (PRC). The ROC machine room consists of 15,000 square feet of air conditioned, raised floor space, capable of supporting up to 10 MW of IT load. The dedicated chilling/utility plant that serves the machine room can produce 3,750 tons of cooling via chilled water, and a one-million-gallon thermal storage tank reduces power costs and boosts efficiency. The plant has redundant chillers and can operate the datacenter for up to eight hours at full load with no chillers functioning, using just the stored chilled water. All power feeds to and from the plant and datacenter are underground. PRC itself has dual power feeds, approaching the campus from different directions that feed a redundant pair of 27 MW transformers. The data center is set up with In-Row Chillers (IRCs) in an enclosed hot aisle configuration, which brings chilled water next to each compute rack. A 400 KVA UPS covers critical storage systems with backup power. The machine room is monitored 24×7 by onsite TACC operations staff and UT facilities personnel. Two-factor card access-plus-pin systems control access to the datacenter. The machine room also includes several experimental alternative cooling systems, including several Green Revolution immersive cooling racks. In the Commons Building on PRC, TACC operates another machine room that provides 3,800 square feet of raised floor and a robust power and cooling infrastructure. TACC maintains a footprint in the UT Arlington datacenter in the Dallas metro area about 200 miles north of Austin for online data replication on the Corral system.
- M-WET’s research relies on the analysis and interpretation of tremendous amounts of data. To find meaning in this sea of information, researchers must first be able to organize, store, and share their data. Researchers can leverage the advances in high-speed, high-density data analysis and computing capabilities at TACC to bring clarity and structure to complex problems and highlight potentially interesting results in data sources too large for any team of people to explore by hand. With more than 100 petabytes of dedicated user storage and new systems designed specifically for data analysis and computations, TACC is a leader in the deployment and use of data intensive computing.
The Texas Data Repository (TDR) is a platform, built in the open-source Harvard Dataverse application, for publishing and archiving datasets and other data products created by faculty, staff and students at Texas higher education institutions. External collaborators of Texas university researchers are also granted permission to deposit data related to their collaborative projects into TDR free of charge for datasets smaller than a few terabytes.
Texas ScholarWorks (TSW) is the UT Austin digital repository established to provide open, online access to products of UT Austin to preserve these works for future generations. TSW is a campus institutional repository that holds digital works (pre-prints, post-prints, technical reports, presentations, and other items not usually submitted to peer-reviewed publications) and provides related services. TSW allows for archive of publications that include external collaborators.
Berkin Dortdivanlioglu Laboratory (The University of Texas at Austin) has ten modern desktop workstations, suitable for code and simulation development. The PI and his students have access to TACC for more demanding simulations. The Dortdivanlioglu group has 350 square feet of shared office space for graduate students on the 7th floor of the Ernest C. Cockrell Jr. (ECJ) Building at UT Austin.
Benny Freeman Laboratory (The University of Texas at Austin) has approximately 6,500 square feet of laboratory space in the EER building (cf. Figure 1). This includes 12 fume hoods and a variety of laboratory benches configured for our experimental needs related to polymer synthesis, membrane fabrication, and membrane characterization. The group has approximately 45 personal computers, about 20 of which are used by graduate students for their research. The remaining 25 are used for instrument control and data acquisition. Professor Freeman’s group has approximately 1,500 square feet of office space for graduate students, an administrative assistant, a director of operations, and a laboratory manager. We have access, by reservation, to three large conference rooms that seat over 30 people and 15 smaller conference rooms that seat 8-10 people. The conference rooms are equipped with whiteboards, state-of-the-art videoconferencing equipment, and A/V systems to facilitate interactive research meetings, project management, and collaboration.
Venkat Ganesan Laboratory (The University of Texas at Austin) A shared laboratory space houses the 32-node Beowulf computer cluster maintained for the exclusive use of Dr. Ganesan’s research group. Central computing facilities are available through TACC. The Ganesan group maintains office space of approximately 800 square feet in the state-of-the-art McKetta Building on the main campus of UT Austin.
Graeme Henkelman Laboratory (The University of Texas at Austin) research is computational, with a focus on atomic scale calculations to understand the function of materials related to energy applications and the design of new materials. The lab also develops computational algorithms and software towards those aims. Henkelman’s research group currently has 12 laptop computers, 4 desktop servers, and two dedicated clusters. Routine backups are done to two dedicated servers with 9.1 TB raid arrays and a Synology with a 44 TB disk array. Henkelman also has a yearly allocation of 3M node hours for the computational design of materials at TACC and a 20M node hour allocation on the DOE NERSC machines. The group has two large student offices that accommodate about 20 people and one faculty office.
Lynn Katz Laboratory (The University of Texas at Austin) is located in the Ernest C. Cockrell Jr. (ECJ) Building and is equipped to evaluate the thermodynamic properties of reactions within aqueous systems and at solid-water interfaces and to design and develop engineered water treatment systems. The lab comprises 1,200 square feet and includes anaerobic chambers, a class 100 clean room, four fume hoods, temperature-controlled rooms, incubators, bench scale water and soil treatment systems (electrodialysis, nanofiltration, coagulation, thermal remediation, adsorption, biological treatment), and wet chemistry appurtenances (e.g. titrimaters, pH meters, conductivity meters, dissolved oxygen and metal sensors, UV/VIS spectrophotometers) needed to monitor reaction chemistry and treatment performance. Dr. Katz also manages the EWRE Analytical Service Center that houses analytical instrumentation for water quality analyses that is available to the entire campus. All group members have access to laptop computers. In addition, the group has several personal computers that are available within the lab and and for instrument control and data acquisition. Professor Katz's group has approximately 500 square feet of office space for graduate students and a laboratory manager. The group has access, on a reservation basis, to one large conference room that seats over 30 people and three small conference rooms that seat 8-10 people. The conference rooms are equipped with whiteboards, state-of-the-art videoconferencing equipment, and A/V systems to facilitate interactive research meetings, project management, and collaboration.
Manish Kumar's Laboratory (The University of Texas at Austin), which occupies about 2,000 square feet of space in the Ernest C. Cockrell Jr. (ECJ) Building, has facilities to conduct protein expression and purification, polymer and small molecule synthesis, membrane channel and membrane ion transport characterization (both concentration driven and electrophysiological), membrane synthesis, fully automated pilot scale membrane transport studies (for days long tests), a dedicated droplet bilayer setup, and a droplet printing system. The Kumar lab has four computers in the lab for data analysis and specialized software for data acquisition. All group members have access to laptop computers. Kumar lab graduate students and postdocs have dedicated office spaces on the 8th and 9th floors of the Ernest Cockrell Jr. Hall on the UT Austin campus. The Kumar faculty office, about 200 square feet, includes space to conduct small group meetings and discussions.
Nate Lynd Laboratory (The University of Texas at Austin) has approximately 2,500 square feet of well-equipped laboratory space with capabilities for polymer synthesis, as well as for comprehensive measurements of physical properties. Lab facilities include ten fume hoods and a variety of lab benches configured for experimental needs. There are 12 personal computers within the group. Half of these are workstations used by graduate students for their research studies, and the other half are used for instrument control and data acquisition. The Lynd group has approximately 500 square feet of office space for graduate students. Shared conference rooms equipped with audio/visual equipment are available for in-person and virtual group meetings in the Engineering Education and Research Center and Gary L. Thomas Energy Engineering Building.
Zak Page Laboratory (The University of Texas at Austin) (4400 square feet) is a well-equipped research space located on the 5th floor of UT Austin’s interdisciplinary Norman Hackerman Building. The fully furnished laboratory provides the essential equipment to perform synthetic organic chemistry reactions and purification, including: 20 fume hoods equipped with piped inert gases, purified water, electrical power and high vacuum, 2 x 4-arm glovebox systems for highly sensitive reagent storage and use, a solvent purification system for dry solvents, and cold storage units (fridge, -20 °C freezer, and -80 °C freezer) for monomers (e.g., epoxy, acrylate, isocyanate, etc.). Additionally, a sonicator, scales, vortex mixers, Kugelrohr distillation glassware, and rotary evaporators are available. An array of high-powered light emitting diodes (LEDs) ranging from long wave ultraviolet (365 nm) to near infrared (940 nm) light are available as needed for a variety of photochemical transformations. Professor Page and the scientists working in the group have access to computers equipped with the software required to accomplish the proposed research (e.g., word processing for experimental record keeping, statistical analysis for data management, and digital image creation for the generation of technical figures). Additionally, they can access processing software needed to plot and analyze infrared and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopic data, among other polymer characterization data. Professor Page’s research group members are located in four office spaces attached to, and with a direct view of, the laboratory space. The lab view and proximity of scientists to one another fosters a safe and collaborative research environment. Professor Page’s nearby office, just down the hallway from the laboratory/student offices, maximizes potential communications. The researchers are provided with access to computers, printing, and photocopying machines.
Gabriel Sanoja Laboratory (The University of Texas at Austin) currently occupies about 1,000 square feet of dedicated laboratory space in the Engineering and Education Research Center (EER) of The University of Texas at Austin. The Sanoja laboratories are specialized for the design of polymers and measurement of thin film and bulk mechanical properties and have all necessary equipment and appurtenances required for this work. It has more than seven personal computers for operating equipment and analyzing and processing data. Unlimited data storage is provided by the Chemical Engineering Information Technology (IT) office, as is software like Matlab, Solidworks, IgorPro, and ChemDraw. The Sanoja group has a shared office space with over thirty desks in EER, along with access to numerous conference rooms with audio/visual capabilities for group meetings, presentations, and online collaboration.
UCSB
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) operates over 25 facilities that collectively house 300+ highly specialized instruments accessible to UCSB researchers and the broader US research community.
The Nanotech Nanofabrication Facility (NNUN) comprises 12,000 square feet of clean room space housing lithographic pattern definition equipment. The facility provides equipment usage on a fee basis, expert staff support, and custom fabrication services.
The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) Microfluidics Laboratory is a campus-wide resource for researchers who use custom-made microfluidic devices and surface functionalized films. The facility has tools for making several different classes of microfluidic devices: cast PDMS, directly machined (laser and mill) polymer devices, and thermally molded polymer flow channels.
The NSF BioPACIFIC MIP facility operates a unique user facility dedicated to creating a nexus for synthetic biology and materials to revolutionize high-performance polymers. Equipment includes a ChemSpeed high throughput polymer synthesis robot, advanced flow reactors, high-throughput characterization instrumentation, polypeptide /polypeptoid synthesizers, purification and chromatographic systems as well as scale-up biomaterial production systems.
The Quantum Structures Facility (QSF) features cleanroom-based tool sets and processes that complement research in quantum materials and devices, enabling unique capabilities in the control and manipulation of materials at the nanoscale. QSF houses a mixture of traditional semiconductor processing equipment, specialty deposition tools, a photoluminescent/Raman spectroscopy suite that includes a cryostat for cryogenic spectroscopy, and a Crystal Growth Facility that houses various types of crystal growth furnaces. An electro-optical characterization set up and probe station to test devices is also available to researchers through a partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).
The Innovation Workshop is a UCSB makerspace facility that enables innovators from academia and local companies to build and test prototypes of their inventions. The workshop includes fabrication equipment for rapid prototyping such as 3D printers, CNC routers, and laser cutters. The workshop also offers tools including a drill press, band saw, sanders, grinders, and a soldering station for electronics assembly. Training is available for all tools in the workshop.
Distributed among different labs of the Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) at UCSB and the Materials Department are shared facilities that allow the complete characterization of materials of interest to this project, starting with routine instrumentation such as X-ray diffraction to electron microscopes, atom-probe system, scanning probe microscopes, NMR, Raman, and XPS spectrometers. Each facility is supported on a recharge basis and operated by Ph.D. level scientists who maintain instruments, train users and support new research efforts. Instruments relevant to this proposal are distributed across the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) and the Materials Research Laboratory buildings on campus. The CNSI houses the Spectroscopy Facility, the X-ray facility, and the Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility. The MRL hosts the TEMPO Facility and the Polymer Characterization Facility. There is a staff member for each facility paid via recharge and institutional resources. Time is available on each instrument in each facility via an online signup system.
The Spectroscopy Facility houses several Bruker solution-state and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers of interest to this work.
The TEMPO Facility comprises TGA, TGA-MS, DSC, and ICP-AES instruments to assess the thermal properties and carry out elemental analysis of samples. UV-vis and FTIR spectrometers are also available.
The X-ray Facility comprises a SAXS diffractometer for investigating polymers and membranes of interest.
The Polymer Characterization Facility is staffed by a Ph.D. level scientist and provides expert experimental guidance and training in the use of state-of-the-art instrumentation and capabilities at the frontier of polymer science. Facility details can be found at mrlweb.mrl.ucsb.edu/polymer-characterization-facility.
The Microscopy and Microanalysis Lab hosts multiple SEM and TEM instruments, several equipped with EDS and EELS capabilities.
The Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry has an on-site glass shop for constructing custom glassware and repair, a shared biochemistry facility, and user facilities for NMR, optical characterization, and X-ray diffraction. For purchase of routine supplies/consumables, chemistry (as well as biology and physics) stockrooms are available.
The Optical Characterization Facility uses light as a probe to study the intrinsic properties of materials and to understand energy and charge migration in materials for novel optoelectronic devices. The facility manager assists its users in the design, assembly, and final analysis of experimental data. Areas of expertise include time-resolved fluorescence measurement, transient absorption spectroscopy, luminescence spectroscopy, non-linear optical spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and microscopy, and laser power processing of materials.
The X-ray Structural Facility houses instruments for single crystal X-ray structure determination. Three diffractometers are available that are optimized for small molecule determination, protein (and other biologically relevant) crystallography, and powder diffraction.
Computational work will use the facilities of the Center for Scientific Computing (CSC), a joint facility between MRL and CNSI. CSC maintains four substantial computing clusters for intermediate-to-large-scale calculations and provides assistance in compiling and optimizing programs. Researchers will also apply for computational time at NERSC, the scientific computing facility for the DoE Office of Science, to access national-scale computing resources for our largest production simulations.
The M-WET program will utilize computation and web-hosting facilities at University of California Curation Center (UC3) of the California Digital Library (CDL). The mission of UC3 is to ensure that digital information supporting and resulting from research remains available, usable, and authentic now and in the future. The center provides high quality digital curation services and expertise, hosting of digital information, and development of digital curation tools.
M-WET data will be sent to the Merritt repository, an open-source digital preservation repository maintained by UC3. Merritt supports restricted access and open public access to digital content, provides multiple methods for deposit, supports multiple metadata formats, and provides preservation functions and reporting.
Christopher M. Bates Laboratory (University of California, Santa Barbara) occupies approximately 1,100 square feet of lab space that is fully outfitted for small molecule and polymer synthesis. The lab is equipped with fume hoods and chemical storage (refrigerator, freezer, vented flammable cabinets). Each student has their own personal computer to analyze/characterize data. The Bates group has approximately 15 desks in shared office space in the California NanoSystems Institute and the Materials Research Laboratory.
Phillip Christopher Laboratory (University of California, Santa Barbara) has about 1,500 square feet of wet lab space including five hoods (two walk-in) in the new Henley Hall facility. The labs were designed to enable handling of ten common use gases and to facilitate spectroscopy, wet chemical experiments, catalytic chemistry, and adsorption measurements. The Christopher group has 12 computational workstations for researchers to analyze data, monitor automated lab equipment, and perform analysis. The group has modern office space in Henley Hall with room for up to 12 researchers in a bullpen style office that can serve up to 40 researchers. The space is split among researchers in chemical engineering, materials science, and electrical engineering. The building also contains shared-use spaces for collaborative work.
Raphaël Clément Laboratory (University of California, Santa Barbara) has 620 square feet of laboratory space within the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) building on campus. The lab space includes four fume hoods and chemical storage space. Lab space has computers to operate each experimental endstation, and each staff member has their own personal computer. The Clément group has approximately 800 square feet of shared office space in the MRL Building at UCSB. MRL communal conference rooms can also be booked. The PI shares a personal assistant with other faculty in the Materials Department.
Glenn Fredrickson Laboratory (University of California, Santa Barbara) Each student and postdoc in the Fredrickson group has a modern desktop workstation, suitable as a development and testing platform, as well as a conduit to the extensive computational resources of the UCSB Center for Scientific Computing (CSC), managed jointly by the California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI) and Materials Research Laboratory (MRL). The group’s preferred computing platform is NVIDIA Data Center GPUs equipped with hardware for double-precision floating point arithmetic, of which the CSC hosts 40 large-memory V100s, 12 P100s, 12 K80s (24 addressable GPU devices), and 32 Fermi series, for a total of 84 GPUs. The Fredrickson group has approximately 1000 square feet of shared office space in UCSB’s MRL Building.
Songi Han Laboratory (University of California, Santa Barbara) has a suite of unique and/or state-of-the-art nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometers, all available to MWET researchers. The Han lab offices are equipped with 3 high performance PCs for performing data analysis and simulations, as well as 10+ monitors to which the students connect their personal laptops. Office and desk space for 18 students/postdocs is distributed over five offices, each around 300 square feet. The Han lab has access to three conference rooms in the Chemistry building that hold 10, 20 or 30 people. Each conference room has A/V and Zoom room capabilities for hybrid style meetings.
Craig Hawker Laboratory (University of California, Santa Barbara) occupies about 2,000 square feet of laboratory and instrument space in the Materials Research Laboratory, PSBN/Chemistry Building and Elings Hall. The laboratories are equipped with 10×8 foot fume hoods. The Hawker laboratory has numerous networked computers available for use by the group, for interfacing with multiple instruments, and for running chemical inventory systems. The PI office space is located in the Materials Research Laboratory (MRL 3005), with all postdoctoral fellows and graduate students having separate offices located near their labs.
Rachel Segalman Laboratory (University of California, Santa Barbara) occupies approximately 2,000 square feet of laboratory space including 7 fume hoods and 2 glove boxes. These laboratories are designed for and contain all necessary chemical and physical tools for the synthesis, fabrication, and characterization of a variety of polymers including UMCP materials and polypeptoids. Segalman’s laboratories have personal computers attached to control instrumentation and for data analysis. Home-written software in LabView or IgorPro provides custom control of instrumentation. All computers are networked and have internet access for collaborative work. Students have laptops or PCs at their desks in their personal offices. Segalman has individual office space of sufficient size and furnishings to conduct activities related to the research and educational activities proposed herein. Office space and facilities are also provided for graduate students, undergraduates, and other visiting scientists.
Scott Shell Laboratory (University of California, Santa Barbara). The Shell group’s part of the office space currently has eight computational workstations (2.4-3.8 GHz 4 or 8-core CPU, 2-8 GB RAM, 512 GB-1 TB HDD) as desktop machines for graduate and undergraduate researchers to develop codes, visualize results, and perform analyses. Students also have access to 30 TB of data storage space in shared external drives. A color laser printer is shared with one other group. The Shell group has a modern office workspace for up to 16 students of roughly 550 square feet, shared with one other computational group in the Dept. of Chemical Engineering at UCSB. A shared conference table and whiteboard area in the room is used by the students to hold discussions.
Todd Squires Laboratory (University of California, Santa Barbara) comprises 1,089 square feet of space. The laboratories are specifically designed for the development of microrheological, interferometry, microfluidic and other characterization tools for polymer formulations and fluids. The Squires laboratory houses two 8-core workstations, one optimized for data processing and analysis (e.g., automated micro-Particle Image Velocimetry of microfluidic flows and automated particle tracking), and one for heavy computation (2X Quad-Core Intel Xeon CPU 2.00 GHz with 48 GB of RAM and 830 GB hard drive, 2X Quad-Core Xeon processors (3.20 GHz) with 32 GB of RAM, 600 GB of storage with RAID array). Our other computers support the various pieces of equipment we have installed or built, host our website, and are used for drawing photomasks or coding for computations. Software licenses are maintained for LabVIEW, which is used to control experiments, perform image analysis, interface with computers, etc.; COMSOL, which is used for simple computations of fields and flows; Matlab; Mathematica, and L-edit (AutoCAD). The Squires group has 375 square feet of office space for researchers, and access to small and large conference rooms equipped with A/V and Zoom room capabilities for hybrid style meetings.
LBNL / Berkeley Lab
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL / Berkeley Lab) is a member of the national laboratory system supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through its Office of Science. It is managed by the University of California (UC) and is charged with conducting unclassified research across a wide range of scientific disciplines. Located on 202 acres above the UC Berkeley campus, Berkeley Lab employs over 3,000 scientists, engineers, and support staff. While there are numerous facilities available to researchers at LBNL, the most relevant facilities to M-WET’s mission are described below.
Advanced Light Source (ALS) is a third generation DOE synchrotron facility hosting users from around the world to access the brightest beams of soft X-rays, together with hard X-rays and infrared, for scientific research and technology development in a wide range of disciples. Several key techniques of interest to this proposal include a single crystal X-ray diffraction station for routine analysis of extremely small crystals, ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (APXPS) and ambient pressure X-ray absorption spectroscopy (APXAS) to probe the interfacial chemistry at the solid/gas and solid/liquid interface, and soft and tender resonant X-ray scattering (TReXs and RSoXs) and complementary soft and tender X-ray NEXAFS spectroscopy to investigate material structure properties with chemical sensitivity. Synchrotron Infrared Nanospectroscopy (SINS) and tomography (micro-CT) are spatially resolved techniques that also help us to better understand chemical heterogeneity by using vibrational spectroscopy at the tens of nanometer length scale and physical structures at micron length scales, respectively. ALS also has an onsite machine shop, vacuum shop, and electronics shop to support the maintenance and fabrication of experimental apparatuses.
The Molecular Foundry is a state-of-the-art DOE user facility for nanoscience research. The facility provides users access to cutting-edge expertise and instrumentation in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment. The Foundry offers a broad spectrum of core capabilities and expertise, allowing users to engage in multidisciplinary research beyond the scope of their own laboratories. Experts from the Foundry in synthesis, characterization, fabrication, and theory of nanomaterials engage directly with users to advance their activities.
The National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) is the primary scientific computing facility serving the Office of Science. It is known as one of the best-run scientific computing facilities in the world, providing some of the largest computing systems available. The facility offers computational and data storage facilities as well as consultation with experts in fields including materials science, physics, and chemistry.
Ethan Crumlin Laboratory (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) occupies a shared laboratory space at LBNL located in Building 2. This lab is approximately 500 square feet. This lab space is shared with another PI and includes an individual laboratory APXPS system operated using an Al K-alpha X-ray source. This APXPS system is currently being commissioned to probe solid/gas interfaces. The lab also includes shared tools, a fume hood, racks for gas cylinders, sinks, house deionized water, and bench space for sample preparation. The Crumlin group also has access to both the solid/gas and solid/liquid APXPS resources at ALS through Crumlin’s role as an ALS scientist and through a partnership agreement facilitated by his Chemical Sciences Division appointment at LBNL. In addition, M-WET has secured access to APXPS beamtime at ALS through an Approved Program. Lab space has computers to operate each experimental endstation, and each staff member has their own personal computer (laptop or desktop). Office space is located in Building 6 (at ALS, which also neighbors the Building 2 lab space) and is approximately 250 square feet with one sit-stand desk and a small discussion table. Communal conference rooms are available for reservation.
Dylan McReynolds Laboratory (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory). The McReynolds Lab consists of computing equipment. Laptops and desktops are available for software development, testing and deployment, and a GPU and CPU cluster is available for development, testing, modeling and AI/ML tasks. The ALS Compute Group maintains in the server room several application and GPU servers, which are available for development and testing. Office space includes a cubicle of approximately 64 square feet. More cubicles on the same building floor can be assigned for shorter or longer term use. A conference room with a capacity of sixteen people is available and includes “Zoom room” teleconferencing capabilities.
Gregory Su Laboratory (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) occupies two laboratory spaces at LBNL. One, in Building 2 at LBNL, is approximately 300 square feet and is equipped with a 6’ fume hood, sink, bench space, drawers, etc. This facility is located close to the ALS and suitable for various sample preparation needs for measurements at ALS beamlines. The second laboratory facility, in Building 30 at LBNL, is shared with other LBNL PIs who work on synergistic polymer and membrane synthesis, preparation, and characterization. This laboratory is approximately 1,000 square feet and is equipped with three 8’ fume hoods and four 6’ fume hoods. It contains racks for gas cylinders, four sinks with house deionized water, 120 V and 220 V power, and bench space for sample preparation. The Su group has access to DOE user facilities, including the ALS, the Molecular Foundry, and the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) through a combination of ALS staff access, an Approved Program proposal, and general user proposals. These facilities are used for synchrotron scattering, spectroscopy, and imaging measurements and complementary simulations. The Su group has approximately 275 square feet of office space in Building 2 at LBNL, close to the group laboratory and the ALS. Cubicle workstations of approximately 36 square feet are also available in Building 30.