Knox College students and faculty are plugging in some major hardware in 2015 -- and writing significant software -- thanks to a series of recent research grants from the National Science Foundation.

• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer $292,100
• Biological Imaging System $41,902
• Supercomputer Programming $258,631

"These impressive awards from the National Science Foundation are a clear mark of the high caliber of science at Knox and the opportunities that Knox offers students to work with faculty on state-of-the-art equipment in scientific experimentation and in researching today's leading scientific questions," said Laura Behling, dean of the College.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer
The chemistry department installed a new $292,100 nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, and Knox is designated by the NSF as the "lead institution" to coordinate use of the NMR spectrometer by students and faculty from Knox and two other schools in the region, Monmouth College and Illinois Central College.

"The new NMR is more flexible, accurate, and powerful than our prior NMR," said Diana Cermak, professor of chemistry at Knox and the principal investigator on the project. Cermak's co-principal investigators at Knox are Helen Hoyt '01, associate professor of chemistry; Katherine Adelsberger, associate professor of environmental studies and Douglas and Maria Bayer Chair in Earth Sciences; and Mark Shroyer, associate professor of physics.

Biological Imaging System
Classes and research projects in biology, biochemistry and neuroscience are benefiting from a new imaging system for study of proteins and nucleic acids. Five faculty and more than 140 students annually will make use of the imaging system, purchased with an NSF grant of $41,902. The principal investigator is Janet Kirkley, professor of biochemistry.

The instrument, that allows researchers to study biological materials, including , is used extensively in both coursework and research laboratories in biochemistry, biology, and neuroscience. Five faculty will use the imaging system in their research, and more than 140 students will gain experience with it, through both classes and research projects.

Supercomputer Programming
David Bunde, associate professor and chair of the computer science department, is the principal investigator on a $258,631 project, "Task Mapping for Emerging Network Topologies." Awarded through the National Science Foundation's Computer Systems Research Program, the grant supports stipends for Bunde and several Knox student research assistants to work on boosting the efficiency of high-performance computer systems -- a.k.a. "super computers."

Bunde and his team are focusing on "task mapping," the assignment of parts of a large program to the individual processors in a system, preventing any part of the system from becoming overloaded.

In all, Knox currently has seven NSF-funded research projects underway. Other highlights include:

• $61,151 collaborative research grant with Pennsylvania State University, awarded in spring 2014 to biology professor Matthew Jones-Rhoades
• $613,846 awarded in 2013 from the NSF program Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) to Mary Crawford, chemistry, and her co-principal investigators, professors Andrew Mehl in chemistry and Jennifer Templeton in biology
• S-STEM grant established a new program at Knox -- COAST (Creating Opportunities and Access in Science and Technology) -- designed to help students who are the first in their family to attend college and students who are from groups underrepresented in science-related fields, especially biology, biochemistry, and chemistry