YSU gets cutting-edge lab, first of its kind in Ohio

YOUNGSTOWN — When Jennifer Miller went to another university for an internship, she realized how fortunate she was to study chemistry at Youngstown State University.

The junior chemistry major from McDonald was allowed to use the tools and equipment in the chemistry department as a freshman — unlike some universities that allow only graduate students and above to use the tools.

“If I don’t get this experience and have these opportunities, how can I know what my opportunities are?” she said. “I am grateful to YSU for not only investing in these opportunities, but for investing in my future.”

Today, Miller was the center of the ribbon-cutting ceremony inside a new X-ray Diffraction Laboratory in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math with YSU President Jim Tressel and U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, next to her.

“We know how to grow the economy and the investments we need to make,” Ryan said. “It is great to know that this will be done right here at YSU.”

The ribbon-cutting celebrated the purchase and installation of two new diffractometers, which shine X-rays through samples of materials and allow researchers to see the atomic makeup of the material.

The $475,000 equipment, funded by a competitive grant from the National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation Program, makes YSU’s material-analysis capabilities among the best in the nation and second to none in Ohio.

For the complete story, read Wednesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com