Arden L. Bement Jr., director of the National Science Foundation, joined U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan and Youngstown State University President David C. Sweet in June to cut the ribbon on the new NMR facility that will allow faculty and students from across the Northeast Ohio region and beyond to conduct cutting–edge research in biotechnology and nanotechnology. The new NMR Lab in Ward Beecher Science Hall features two state–of–the–art NMR spectrometers, which are among the most powerful tools available to chemists to identify unknown substances and to characterize specific arrangements of atoms within molecules. The NSF also provided funding for the new X–ray Crystallography Lab, which is across the hallway from the new NMR lab. The X–ray Crystallography Lab allows researchers to study the structure of solid molecules.

Dr. Timothy Wagner was awarded a $2.1 million grant from the Ohio Third Frontier Commission. The grant will help YSU establish a Center for Excellence in Advanced Materials Analysis.