State-of-the-art electron microscope promises to aid major researc...(d other universities said Ray Carpenter ...)

The project is an example of the economic benefit a research university can bring to its state. In this case, the benefit has short and long-term consequences.

In the short term, Arizona benefits from the grant to acquire the microscope itself. In the longer term, Newman said, "having this microscope at ASU will increase the amount and raise the quality of the research that is done here by ASU researchers and others from throughout the country. I would expect that an additional $30 million in grants will be secured in the next seven years as a result of the acquisition of the microscope."

Each year, Arizona universities contribute nearly $1 billion into the Arizona economy from their research, most of which is funded by the U.S. government and entities from outside the state. Research money brought in by universities is restricted money that can be used only for the research activity it supports. It cannot be used to compensate for cuts in other parts of the university's budget.

Carpenter noted that the independent experts who reviewed the project proposal for the NSF acknowledged the past three decades of superior teaching and research in transmission electron microscopy at ASU, and stated that this record of achievement was a major factor in the decision to contribute to ASU effort to obtain the microscope.

The new addition to the Cowley center lab to be purchased and installed over the next two years will enable researchers and students to get microscopic views of matter minus the tiny obstructions that have blurred images produced by even some of the most sophisticated microscopes of recent times.

"We will be able to probe the bonding of single atoms and examine chemical reactions in real-time at the atomic level," Carpenter said. "This is the level at which the wo
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