NIST

Research Experience for Undergraduates in Chemistry

NSF Program at the University of Virginia

Visit to NIST

Wednesday, July 28, 1999

  "A man with  a THERMOMETER always knows the temperature.

A man with TWO thermometers is never sure."

NIST makes sure!

 7:00 Leaving Bice (Barely)

Looking like the Maytag Repair Man

10:00-10:30 Richard Cavanagh - Visit Overview

Their Old Chemistry Building (which is still very nice)

Newton's Original Apple Tree (well, grown from a cutting actually)

New Chemistry Building--fabulous!

10:40-11:10 Dan Burden - Single molecule fluorescence and electrochemical detection for understanding membrane protein activity

Very nice services

11:15-11:45 Group of Steven Wise - Organic Analytical Methods

Tours by Lane Sander (LC), Bruce Benner (GC), David Bunk (MS)

It may look like dirt. It is dirt. Very expensive dirt!  This little bottle would set you back several hundred dollars or more. It is a carefully characterized Standard Reference Material (SRM). However, they did take the motorcycle out of the dreggings before they homogenized it.

11:50-12:20 Jack Fassett - Inorganic Analytical Methods

Amazing! The MS looks just like the text book.

ICP MS--sensitivity, universality

To reduce samples like coal to a usable form still requires wet chemisty--in this case high pressure, high temperature digestion in a sealed tube. The blast shield around the tubes after the treatment is not cosmetic.

12:25-1:20 Lunch NIST Cafeteria

It may have been hot outside, but the students needed to warmed up after lunch from the air conditioned labs

1:30-2:00 Stephen Stranick and Chris Michels - Near Field Scanning Optical Microscopy

IR spectroscopy and microscopy below the diffraction limit

2:05-2:35 Sonya Roberson: Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy

Note the mascot

2:40-3:10 John Armstrong, John Small, Dale Newbury - Electron Probe Microscopy A145 Chemistry

Every wonder why houses with aluminum wiring burst into flames? Well, not only did Dale Newbury figure out why, but he is more than willing to show you why.

3:20-4:00 Dick Lindstrom Nuclear - Analytical Methods Reactor Building

A model of the 20 MW Reactor Neutron Source

The reactor

The GREAT HALL where the neutron are piped and the experiments are done on the cold neutrons that have been piped from the reactor.

4:15-5:00 Fred Schwarz - Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology (CARB)

How do you crystallize a protein?

With LOTs and LOTs of trys. Each plastic tray contains many cells where each cell  is an indepedent attempt to grow a crystal.

One of the two X-ray array detectors for solving protein structures

How do you do a structure on protein in solution? NMR! (Note the metal cage around the computer CRT)

Question: Why is there gravel around the isolated NMR building?

Answer: If the lawn mowers come closer, they mess up the NMRs.

5:15 Sandwiches at Roy’s Place

Unique ambiance and decor and great sandwich

One of the few places where you buy the menu

After all, where else can you get :

#7 A Good Cold Sandwich (TM) (Because of inflation the price was raised) Two stale heels of bread enclosing a fresh made ice cube $0.62

#19 A Nothing Burger (TM) (A light sandwich) A plain hard roll with butter $0.64

The repair job on the moose was required when his jaw fell off onto a patron. Fortunately, the moose recovered fully.

It takes longer to pick the sandwich than it does to eat it!