A four day workshop in collaboration with Bruker, showcasing the capabilities of the NSF-MRI funded Bruker UltrafleXtreme MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometer. This workshop is tailored for our existing MALDI users, offering deep dives into advanced applications and workflows.

Synthetic Polymer sessions:
Jan 23 AM: Homopolymers – Advanced Method Development & Troubleshooting AND MS/MS Data Acquisition
Jan 23 PM: Homopolymers – Data Processing in Polytools and Polymerix and MS/MS Data Processing
Jan 24 AM: Copolymers – Advanced Method Development & Troubleshooting AND MS/MS Data Acquisition
Jan 24 PM: Copolymers – Data processing in Polytools and Polymerix and MS/MS Data Processing

Life Sciences Sessions:
Jan 25 AM: Difficult Samples – Sample Prep, Data Acquisition & Advanced Method Development
Jan 25 PM: Glycans
Jan 26 AM: MS/MS for Proteins and Peptides
Jan 26 PM: Bacterial Isolate Characterization Methods

This 2-day hybrid in-person and virtual workshop introduced different methods of identifying and refining twinned X-ray and electron diffraction. The workshop was composed of lectures, hands-on data processing and structure solution and refinement.

• DAY 1: Electron diffraction (Dr. Roy Geiss, Dr. Rebecca Miller, and Dr. Michael Ruf)
• DAY 2: X-ray diffraction (Dr. Michael Ruf and Dr. Brian Newell)

Participants will be provided with software to explore the methods used to help identify and refine twinned structures. *Windows 7 or 10 Professional (x64) is required*

March 25-27, 2019. This was an inaugural event highlighting science and technology in the Northern Colorado region. This first Winter Symposium featured nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS) capabilities for metabolomics and synthetic macromolecules characterization at two CORE analytical service facilities at Colorado State University, the Central Instrument Facility (CIF) and the Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility (PMF). 

Analytical methods that take advantage of NMR and MS, are among the most important tools used by research scientists in the physical, engineering and life sciences.  Routine access to powerful NMR methods and high resolution mass spectrometry has enabled studies to understand complex problems in, e.g., synthetic chemistry, natural products, catalysis, dynamics, structural biology and synthetic polymers.

Mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) have also evolved as complementary techniques in metabolomics studies, each with its own advantages and limitations, especially around reproducibility, quantitation, sample preparation and sensitivity. The rapidly growing area of metabolomics in which a large number of metabolites from body fluids, cells or tissue are detected, promises immense potential for a number of disciplines including early disease diagnosis, therapy monitoring, systems biology, drug discovery and nutritional science. This symposium introduced participants to the newest analytical instrumentation and data processing tools available at the CIF and PMF CORE facilities, including Bruker and Waters quadrupole time-of-flight liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, complex data processing platforms, and Bruker MALDI-MS and NMR. Participants interacted with application scientist and work around problems commonly encountered during analytics or data processing in MS- and NMR-based metabolomics workflows, including hands-on exercises comparing different data processing tools with real data collected on these systems. Students chose breakout sessions most relevant to their needs.

October 2-3, 2018. Two day short course, with lectures and hands-on labs, will cover qualitative and quantitative energy dispersive spectroscopy in both TEM and SEM plus an introduction to DTSA-II. Registration Fees: Students $200, Non-Students $300.  The short course will be followed by a free one day workshop on October 4 with lectures and demos covering both in-situ experiments using the Protochips Fusion heating sample holder in the TEM and ‘Chemistry and Crystallography’ with EDS and EBSD, using the Oxford UltimMax 170 EDS and new Symmetry EBSD in the SEM.

Are you interested in expanding your knowledge on how X-ray diffraction or scattering can be used to analyze different types of materials? The CIF is hosting a Materials Analysis Short Course on September 14-15 during which you can learn and gain hands-on experience with different experimental approaches used in X-ray diffraction/scattering techniques.

A basic understanding of X-ray diffraction and scattering is required in order to be able to follow the lectures and data interpretation covered by application scientists from CSU, Bruker, PANalytical, and Malvern. Take advantage of a unique opportunity offered by Bruker to have your samples analyzed for more advanced analysis prior to the workshop.

Are you interested in expanding your knowledge on how NMR or Mass Spectrometry can be used to solve problems in chemical, life or materials sciences? The 3rd Annual CIF Summer School is your opportunity to learn and gain hands-on experience with different experimental approaches used in NMR and MS. The school addresses CSU graduate students, postdocs and scientists who focus on molecular structure and dynamics characterization, but welcomes anyone with a keen interest in NMR and MS. A basic understanding of MS and NMR is required in order to be able to follow the lectures.

Week 1: NMR and MS Basics and Biological Applications.

• Fundamentals of NMR and MS
• MS ionization techniques
• Chromatography
• NMR and MS-based metabolomics
• HRMAS, solid-state NMR, high-res NMR

Week 2: Structural Elucidation and Advanced Topics.

• NMR- and MS-based structural elucidation (2D NMR, tandem-MS)
• Quantitative NMR and MS
• Proteomics
• Advanced topics (Diffusion NMR, kinetics, polymers, isotope labeling)

The 2015 CIF Summer School consisted of a 3-day workshop meant to introduce participants to different electron diffraction methods for micro-structuralcrystallographic characterization of materials in scanning and transmission electron microscopy.

• Day 1: Conventional diffraction meodes in TEM (SAED, NBD, CBED)
• Day 2: Precession electron diffraction and crystallography
• Day 3: Electron backscatter diffraction in SEM

The school was open to both CSU and non-CSU students, researchers and professionals in the field.
Sponsors included JEOL, NanoMEGAS, EDAX and Gatan.

The 2014 CIF Summer School consisted of two 5-day, 1-credit courses, with subjects in applied materials analysis, including surface characterization, thin film, crystal, powder and solid X-ray, spectroscopic and microscopic analyses:

• Session 1 (CHEM 651B): Electron Microscopy: May 19-23, 2014
• Session 2 (CHEM 651A): Materials Analysis: June 2-6, 2014

Students obtained practical understanding of which instrumental methods to use for characterizing different types of materials, and how to derive morphological, structural and compositional information at different scales.
Sponsors included JEOL USA Inc, Topspin and PANalytical.
School features 

• Cooperative learning of individual techniques through lecture & laboratory instruction.
• Discussion of sample handling, sample preparation, etc. for different techniques and sample types.
• Exposure and hands-on experience with new state-of-the art instrumentation and technology used routinely in materials analysis, including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), profilometry, contact angle, high resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), precession electron diffraction (PED), tomography and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD).
• Application highlights keynote lectures by prominent research scientists in the field.
• ‘PICO’ presentations (2-slides/2-minutes) by course participants about EM and materials analysis applications in their research.