To:
UIC User Group Members
From:
Shawn Banker
Subject:
Spring 2016 User Group Meeting Notes
Date:
04-15-2016
University Instrumentation Center, UNH
W123 Parsons Hall 23 Academic Way
Durham, NH 03824
V: 603.862.2790
F: 603.862.4104
www.unh.edu/uic
Spectroscopy Attendees:
Sarah Joiner, Holly Weaver, Feixia Chu, Erik Hobbie, Scott Greenwood, Andrew Ouimette, Lucie
Lupine, Kyle Rodriguez, Patricia Wilkinson, John Wilderman
Imaging Attendees:
Estelle Hrabak, Tom Foxall, Jim Krzanowski, John Tsavalas, Nancy Cherim, Mark Townley, John
Wilderman
Engineering Service Attendees:
Laurie Westover, Wendy Beagen, Kevan Carpenter, Melissa Knorr, Jody Potter, Robert Gibson, Andy
Glode, Rob Cinq-Mars, John Wilderman
The following is a summary of the discussion and points discussed during the Spring 2016 User
Group meetings. A copy of the presentation is also available in the BOX folder and on the UIC
website for viewing and sharing which includes slides presented at the three user group meetings.
The UIC team led the meetings with a presentation following the basic agenda:
1. Brief Report Out of usage/billing by area/instrument
2. Status update of actions discussed in prior meeting
3. A discussion on some new topics the UIC was looking to obtain input on as well as general
solicitation of ideas
Key discussion points taken from the meetings are as follows:
1. Usage/Billing report out
 Internal imaging instrument usage is projected to be up over prior year with the largest
gain coming from the SEM which is expected to hit 1800 hours.
 Along with external usage hours declining, total billing is expected to be down over prior
year. There is an increase in internal billing but a larger decrease projected for external
billing.
 Internal NMR usage is projected to increase slightly over prior year based on straight line
projections.
 Internal NMR usage is projected to increase based on NMR-400 and Solids use. With
solids use projection not expected to continue this year, overall use will likely remain flat.
NMR-500 is expected to be lower by about 25%.
 External use of NMR is projected to decline significantly due to customer demand
resulting in a significant external NMR billing reduction (and overall billing). We intend
to contact our external users individually and assess their need for NMR analysis to
understand if they are contracting with other NMR service providers, choosing alternate
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analysis techniques, or simply not making as much product and therefore not in need of our
services at the level they once were.
Other spectroscopy instruments were not presented as they collectively represent only
13% of the total spectroscopy usage hours and less than 10% of the spectroscopy billing.
Solids NMR was used this year significantly more than recent previous years both
internally and externally. Internal results are under review by Erik Hobbie while the
external users were positively received.
Engineering Services customer base is consistently led by COLSA at ~75% and CEPS at
~22%. MCBS, DBS and Chemistry round out the top three departments.
There was a brief discussion on using positive (drop) rate changes on instruments such
as confocal last year to help promote beyond the annual rate change letter. Other
recommendations including power points on video screens throughout campus, better
use of our bulletin board for displaying UNH related work, outside advertising including
contacting alumni from appropriate departments were also recommended by the group.
2. Action List Highlights
 Proactive Calibrations – Some work had been done to look at methods to be more proactive
and once again, the user groups suggested that sending out reminders when calibrations are
due would be a positive, proactive thing to take on.
 Remote Monitoring – The UIC presented the status of remote monitoring using wireless and
cellular communications and in general received positive feedback that we should continue
this work and look to promote more once established.
 NMR Hours vs spectra – A review of NMR hours versus spectra was completed that showed
an increase in efficiency (less time to run a spectra) due to being able to process data off the
instrument and other improvements and a shift in the types of spectra to those requiring
less instrument time.
 Solids NMR promotion – After the last user group meeting, the UIC did perform some solids
NMR for Erik Hobby (results are awaiting feedback) as well as a collaborator for Dr. Gonghu
Li (with positive, publishable results). This will be documented in a formal method by Kyle
and published on the website and other locations.
 Community College Connections – Several attempts have been made to promote at
community colleges with some interest, but no action.
 24/7 Access – It was requested at the last user group meeting that all instruments (including
the TEM) should be available 24/7. This is now the case for all UIC instruments upon
meeting training requirements for all UNH users.
 Sorting Flow Cytometer – A thorough review of various sorting flow cytometers was
completed and two options are proposed. Next effort will require researcher support and
funding development which is being initiated.
 Microscopy oversight in COLSA – As a follow up to the last meeting, some COLSA researchers
were consulted regarding having the UIC to help oversee some of the COLSA research
microscopes with little interest being apparent. More work on this is needed.
 Rates on website – All UIC instrument and scientist rates are now published on the UIC
website.
 Citing and Acknowledging the UIC – A standardized method for citing and acknowledging the
UIC has been posted on the website. This needs to be promoted to users.
 UIC Integrated Courses – A listing of all academic courses supported by the UIC is now
posted on the UIC website.
3. New Topics
 Ultralow freezer project – The energy efficiency project to upgrade -80 freezers was
discussed which included the purchase of a new -80 Stirling powered freezer in partnership
with DBS, Sustainability Institute, Energy Office and the UIC.
 Instrument recommendations – The UIC website now includes a listing of recommended
instruments which includes USNH negotiated pricing for several types of instruments.
 Pipette calibrations – The calibration process for pipettes will now require the use of a
decontamination form which was shared.
 COBRE proposal – Included in a recent COBRE proposal was a new XPS and a new Confocal
microscope. We expect to hear about this later this summer.
 Instrument demos – It was suggested that the UIC help coordinate instrument demos on
campus and we agreed to help initiate this process to extend the demos to more people and
to provide a space, if needed, for these demos.
 URC and GRC – The UIC will be participating in the URC and GRC this year in a sponsorship
role and will have a display table to try and reach students, faculty, parents and industrial
contacts. Next year, we will look to other methods to increase our support of these research
related events.
 Promotion and Support of other labs (Stable Isotope, Chu MS) – The UIC is offering to help
support scheduling, billing, promoting and other administrative functions for some
instrument laboratories across campus and are actively working to set this up.
 It was recommended that we contact Stuart Grandy and Julie Bryce to participate in future
user group meetings.
 Quality System Audit – The UIC will be undergoing a quality systems laboratory audit in
support of doing work for an external biological science company. Assuming successful
results, this will open up other opportunities for the UIC.
 Brew Lab – The UIC is responsible for setting up a brew science analytical testing lab in
support of a COLSA minor and certificate program as well as to provide testing for external
clients. The scope and location of the lab is still being developed but the initial plan would
be to integrate into an existing UIC space.
 Mass Spec Core – The UIC is beginning to define mass spec capabilities on campus and will
be proposing a virtual core which highlights UNH’s MS capabilities.
o A general questionnaire will be generated and individual instrument custodians will be
contacted to assess the current status of the instrument and their availability as a shared
campus resource. Beyond mass spec, we expect to extend this assessment to GC (gas
chromatography), X-Ray equipment and other relevant instrumentation techniques.
 Potential new hires in MCBS – The recent involvement of the UIC in the candidate
interviewing process has proved very beneficial to the UIC, the candidates and the hiring
committees. The UIC is looking to expand this involvement into other departments.
 SpeedVacs in MCBS – The concern was raised that there may be potential concerns with how
SpeedVacs are utilized currently and would there be an opportunity to centralize this in
some fashion. After some discussion it was deemed to be a department or college topic and
not something the UIC should take on at this time.
Thank you all for your input, feedback and attendance. The next meetings will be planned for some
time during the fall semester.
Shawn