MRI: Track #1 Acquisition of an X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD) System for Advancing Multidisciplinary Research and Education at Texas A&M International University

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award supports the acquisition of a state-of-the-art X-Ray diffractometer (XRD) for multidisciplinary materials research and education at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU), a Hispanic (89.3%) serving institution in South Texas. The versatile instrument will be used widely across the campus as both an educational tool for undergraduate and graduate students, and as a research tool by faculty across broad disciplines. The instrument will help meet educational and research infrastructure needs brought by rapid expansion in enrollment and corresponding expansion in academic programs, especially in the sciences and engineering realms where the materials characterization capabilities of the X-ray diffractometer are critically needed. The instrument stands to increase the participation of TAMIU’s predominantly Hispanic community by enabling educational and research opportunities for over 10 primary faculty and nearly 3,000 students from 8 programs and 2 university colleges, neighboring high schools, and petroleum companies for transformative materials study and research in areas such as systems engineering, petroleum engineering, geology, chemistry, biology, physics, and anthropology. The award of the XRD instrument will establish a material characterization facility that will enhance multiple avenues for advanced research. Both research faculty and students will benefit from the capability of the instrument to support projects of specific relevance to the geology of South Texas and local industry. Research projects supported by the instrument include the investigation of shale mineralogy to evaluate brittleness, wellbore instability, clay-swelling mechanisms, and integrated sedimentologic-petrographic-mineralogical analysis – all of importance to local industry for enhanced oil recovery. Additional focus areas of research include materials characterization related to adsorption properties of polymeric materials, functionalization of MXene materials, and other research projects related to thin-films, energy materials, biosensors, and soft materials. Such transformative research thrusts spill over to teaching via specialty courses, including Polymers in Nature, Shale Oil and Gas Engineering, North American Archaeology, Archaeological Laboratory Methods, Materials Engineering, as well as traditional general science courses in Chemistry, Biology, and Physics where X-ray analysis is incorporated into laboratory modules. 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.