Story of the Lab
My research activity started around October 2023 when I managed to obtain a large laboratory space in FH 204, much of which used to be a storage area that had not been used for years. After three months of intense effort, I was able to transform the storage area into a state-of-the-art research space. Below, you can see the lab space before and after transformation. I am always excited to present this lab to undergraduate students and visiting professors.
Before and After Renovations
I built this lab with the intention of making it unique, thus, explaining its many special features. It has a machine shop that is fully equipped for machining aluminum, plastics, and ceramic parts. While a machine shop may seem like an “odd” addition to a chemistry lab, it takes advantage of the large space available and relatively low cost to machine tools, while making up for the absence of a machine shop on Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus. I have learned the art of making devices from scratch on professional softwares such as Autodesk and Fusion 360. I start prototyping by 3D printing plastic parts and then machine them on a lathe and mill, as illustrated by my gallery of parts shown below. This local facility enables true freedom of innovation that would be painstakingly slow and expensive if every part had to be fabricated by an external machine shop. Combined with a small electronic shop, adjacent to my machine shop, I am also able to custom build instruments and machines such as a semi-automatic ultramicroelectrode heat-sealer, which is shown below. I gladly share this space with my colleagues when they need to make small parts, save expensive ultra-high vacuum parts, fix small electronic boards, or adapt their existing equipment.
A second feature of the lab is the adjacent office space physically separated by ¾ inch thick dense medium panels to guarantee safety for my students. I entirely covered the space outlining the office area with a white board surface to promote creative thinking and brainstorming. I designed this space to pour ideas out of people, which is demonstrated by the lab’s research output.
(A) substrate holder with water tank and dispenser & Al spinning plate
(B) pipette holder
(C) paper towel dispenser
(D) scintillation vial racks
(E) ultra-pure water dispensing tap system
(F) Box organizingTeflon cell & Al (blued) opto-cell
(G) custom made XY microscope stage
(H) custom Al fitting for vacuum line
(I) Al and PEEK holder system for microelectrode and pipettes
(J) caps, electrode holders, gaskets & O-ring, 3D printed by graduate students
(K) motorized microelectrode fabrication station with control box.