MRI: Acquisition of Micro-computed Tomography and 3D Imaging Infrastructure for Interdisciplinary STEM Research in North Carolina

An award is made to the University of North Carolina Greensboro to acquire a micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) scanner which will facilitate STEM research and training based on high-resolution 3D imaging. Micro-CT is an X-ray-based technology whose use is advancing knowledge of past and present complex biological forms, genotype-phenotype-environment connections, human cultural (pre)history, and engineering of synthetic and biocompatible nanoelements.

The instrument will accelerate research in these areas for a user base in North Carolina and Virginia, including researchers at minority-serving institutions, HBCUs, and scientifically underserved regions of both states. The CT instrument will also facilitate synergies among additional research instruments and foci based at JSIRT, which is a nanoscience hub and collaboration between two institutions in Greensboro (UNCG and North Carolina A&T).

To ensure the instrument serves regional STEM training needs, the award supports short-form and semester-long CT-based courses for undergraduate and graduate students at both of these institutions. It will also engage and inspire the next generation of STEM researchers via development of K-8 educational kits and CT-based outreach in science-focused community events.

Micro-CT allows objects to be imaged in three dimensions (3D), non-invasively, and at very high resolution (micron to sub-micron scale), transforming surficial, compositional, and cross-sectional analysis for applications focused on nanoparticles, engineered composites, and hard and soft biological tissues. Acquisition of the micro-CT instrument will catalyze discovery that spans these STEM foci, providing exciting research and training opportunities across material types, levels of biological organization, and temporal scales (from deep time to present).

It will serve a diverse consortium of users based at UNCG and 11 other academic institutions (plus industry partners) in the Triad and western North Carolina, as well as southwestern Virginia, providing capacity to advance basic knowledge and extend synergies among diverse research institutions. The award will bolster STEM research and training at UNCG and JSIRT in particular, via cross-listed, graduate and upper-level undergraduate courses in CT and scan reconstruction.

This will lower the barrier of entry for innovative, imagery-based student research projects. Further, the instrument will be used to inspire the next generation of STEM researchers within our community by contributing to development of K-8 educational kits (including 3D-printed biological, paleontological, archaeological, and engineered objects) and integration in outreach events at the annual Science Everywhere festival on UNCG’s campus

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.