Labs and Equipment

NSME has a wide variety of cutting edge equipment and lab spaces where students can work alongside professors on important research. Here's a look at some of what we have to offer.

 

Scanning Electron Microscopy Labratory

  • Hitachi S-3400N SEM with automated stage, Faraday cup, nano/pico ammeter, and environmental mode option
  • Gatan Chroma live-time cathode luminescence imaging system
  • Oxford INCA 7021 energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer
  • Oxford INCA wavelength dispersive X-ray spectrometer
  • IXEF XBeam 10mm X-ray fluorescence source

Sediment Analysis Laboratory

  • UIC, Inc. Carbon Coulometer with acidifier and furnace modules for total organic and inorganic carbon analyses
  • Costech elemental analyzer for high sensitivity H, C, O, N, S abundances
  • Malvern Mastersizer laser granulometer for grain-size spectra100 nm to 2 mm dynamic grain-size range

Computer Mapping/Simulation Laboratory

  • Industry standard petroleum engineering and geological interpretation software
  • CMG software for reservoir simulations (hydrocarbons, steam, CO2)
  • Petra, Petrel, Kingdom Suite, ARCInfo software for geological interpretation, 3-D modeling and volumetrics

Plant Physiology Laboratory

  • Energy production/photosynthesis instrumentation
  • Drought tolerance/water conduction
  • Stem and leaf biomechanics testing

Mineral/Elemental Composition Laboratory

  • PANalytical Empyrean Research X-Ray Diffractometer for mineral identification, including clay minerals
  • Elan 6100 Series Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer with an automated carriage for multiple dissolution samples, a CETAC LSX200pluus laser ablation sampler and a Parr Microwave Digester for major and trace elemental composition of solids and waters at ppt sensitivity

Materials Testing Laboratory

  • DAKE materials property testing equipment for stress, strain, Poisson's ratio, elasticity, rigidity, etc. up to 10,000 psi; 300 degrees F

California Well Sample Repository

  • The only facility in California providing permanent storage and public use of cores, sidewall samples, drill cuttings, outcrop samples, microfaunal slides, foundation borings, and mineral suites
  • Extensive catalogs on thousands of California oil, gas, water, and core well

Fab Lab

  • An advanced digital fabrication laboratory that consists of a suite of fabrication and rapid prototyping machines, including a large CNC Router (or shopbot), a 3D desktop mill and scanner, a vinyl cutter, a laser cutter, an electronics work bench, a 3D printer, and the accompanying computers and software.
  • For more, visit the Fab Lab's website