• Tissue culture laminar flow hood and incubators
• Spectrophotometers
• DO meters for river sampling
• state of the art river sampling equipment
• anaerobic chamber
• flow cytometer

Students use research-grade instrumentation at AU to prove the chemical structure of compounds never before synthesized, or identify the heavy metal content in ancient artifacts, historical texts and everyday products. Opportunities in industry, research and graduate school await the students with understanding and experience in using biochemistry instrumentation.

Fourier Transform-Infrared Spectroscopy

AU has a Varian 800 Scimitar™ FT-IR with Pike MIRacle™ single reflection ATR (attenuated total reflectance).Bonds in molecules vibrate at a frequency based on the bond strength and polarity. FT-IR spectroscopy can determine the type of bonds present in a molecule by the frequency of energy they absorb. It is used by chemists to identify the presence of functional groups in a molecule.

X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Sometimes student projects turn into valuable pieces of instrumentation for the department, such our XRF. X-rays are focused on a material of interest. These bombarding x-rays cause the object of interest to emit characteristic x-rays that are unique to each element, thus allowing elemental analysis. Students have utilized this equipment on projects involving ancient artifacts, historical texts and identifying lead in toys.

Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

AU has a Varian AA240 Fast Sequential AAS. Most metals and metal ions in samples that can be dissolved in solution are readily analyzed with AA. The AA 240FS draws a solution up into an atomizing chamber where the droplets are drawn into a flame. Light of a specific wavelength for that metal is passed through the sample and is absorbed. The degree to which it is absorbed corresponds to the amount of metal species present.

Gas & Liquid Chromatography

AU has several different types of chromatographs: GC-FID (flame ionization detector), GC-MS (mass spectrometer detector), HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet diode array detector) as well as TLC (thin layer chromatography) and various other column type exchanges.
Students at AU have used these various types of chromatography to perform research analyzing a range compounds from pesticide residues on apples to particulate matter left after fires where arson was suspected.

Fluorescence Spectroscopy

AU has a Cary Eclipse Fluorescence Spectrophotometer. One of the most sensitive instruments in our lab relies on a molecule’s ability to fluoresce. It can be used in a computer controlled ratio mode as a fluorescence spectrophotometer with measurement modes for fluorescence, phosphorescence, chemiluminescence and bioluminescence. It also has a temperature control probe for analysis at conditions other than room temperature in kinetic studies.

Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy

AU has a Cary Model 1E UV-Visible Spectrophotometer. This is a double beam spectrophotometer capable of making concentration measurements, scans and kinetic analysis.

Fourier Transform-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging Spectroscopy

AU has an FT Anasazi upgrade on a 60 MHz EFT NMR with a 1H probe and a 13C probe. Atoms with an odd number of nucleons, like 1H and 13C behave like magnets. When a sample is pulsed with radiofrequency energy, they effectively line up with the magnetic field then relax giving a signal that is characteristic of their environment. In the medical field, this technique is called MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).

A 1H NMR gives information about the structure of a molecule. It gives the number and kinds of hydrogen attached to it. Left shows a plot of areas where different types of hydrogen produce signals and a spectrum.

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Students in the computer science department have direct access to cutting-edge servers with more than 20 physical cores and 256GiB of RAM, plus enterprise level switches, routers, and firewalls, which are connected over a 400Gbps optical interconnect fabric. In addition, two departmental computer labs, two on-campus internship facilities, and our departmental server room provide hands-on experience connected with classroom learning.

For sophomore-level courses and higher, students in the computer science department complete most of their assignments on their personal laptops, often connecting to departmental servers to complete their coursework. Students can choose any of the standard operating systems: Windows, MacOS, or Linux. A set of recommended minimum specifications can be found within the computer science major. 

Study space is available within the computer science office area which allows students to work in groups on programming projects and to study closely with our faculty.

On-Campus Internship Facilities

Two companies value Anderson University students highly enough to establish permanent, year-round internship centers on campus. Genesys established an on-campus internship center in Decker Hall in 2016, providing up to six students with year-round employment and learning. In 2019, Ontario Systems established the Talent Incubator, known as the Cube, also employing six interns year round. At both internship centers, full-time employees with a heart for mentoring and education guide the interns through their work, aiming to enhance the students’ education. These two internship centers are located in Decker Hall, just around the corner from the computer science classrooms and offices, allowing the interns to balance their education and work throughout the day.

Computer Science Departmental Network

The department’s computers and servers are connected through a departmental network, segmented from the main university’s network. This departmental network allows freshmen and sophomores to gain hands-on experience through internships, working with faculty to configure and maintain all the resources used, from the network configuration to the server management. The firewall, routers, and domain name servers within the Cybersecurity Engineering Laboratory are also maintained by students, allowing both computer science and cybersecurity majors to gain valuable experience early in their undergraduate career.

Cybersecurity Engineering Laboratory

The Cybersecurity Engineering Laboratory (known as the CEL), which opened in October 2017, provides significant additional computing and networking resources, with more than 20 physical cores, 256GiB of RAM, enterprise level switches, routers, and firewalls, which are connected over a 400Gbps optical interconnect fabric. The department runs two primary production servers to support the departmental computer labs, plus a number of other servers used for academic purposes, including several Linux-based servers. Upper-level cybersecurity and computer science courses make heavy use of the CEL, providing students hands-on experience in the classroom that models their future industry experience. 

Computer Science Lab: Decker 346

This lab hosts the freshman-level classes, as well as several upper-level courses. With 28 Windows-based desktop computers, students can explore introductory computer science and cybersecurity courses, without the requirement to purchase a compatible laptop. Summer internships are available to work with computer science faculty to upgrade and maintain the equipment in all computer science departmental facilities.

Computer Science Lab: Decker 351

Recently updated, this classroom is reconfigurable, allowing standard lecture-based instruction as well as group work. The room is designed to facilitate Agile Development, containing 24 stations that allow student laptops to be connected to external monitors, plus an additional four iMac computers, and the ability for students to project their work onto the main instructional screen. Anderson University’s ongoing partnerships with industry leaders emphasize the importance of teaching techniques such as Agile Development, teamwork, and collaboration. This classroom is ideal for creating a real-world environment for students to gain experience prior to graduation.

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The Cybersecurity Engineering Laboratory is located in the Engineering Center. This laboratory allows for state of the art learning opportunities for students in the School of Science & Engineering, especially in cybersecurity, computer science, and computer engineering majors. It was opened on Oct. 31, 2017.

The Cybersecurity Engineering Laboratory houses several high-capacity servers including a blade chassis. It also houses a set of enterprise access switches, edge switches, core switches, core routers, and wireless devices connected over a 40Gbps optical interconnect fabric.

The laboratory allows students to gain real-life experience, as most large companies have a similar server room or data center. In computer science and engineering courses, students can write code on their laptop or a lab computer, then they can connect through a high-speed network to the laboratory, and run their code on the servers, which have more than 20 physical cores and 256GiB of RAM, allowing complex code to be executed quickly. Faculty can also use it to work on their research or more computationally complex projects in upper-level courses.

Ascension Technologies (formerly Ascension Information Services) was the lead sponsor for the Cybersecurity Engineering Laboratory, with generous support from their friends at Integration Partners, Extreme Networks, Inc. (formerly Avaya), and Dell EMC. This laboratory will also provide opportunities for Ascension to bring their staff to AU’s campus for periodic training. The value of the room and equipment is nearly $1 million.

The laboratory was built in part with Bolt-A-Blok, an innovative new building material from 3B Construction Solutions, Inc. The Bolt-A-Blok system is four times as strong as traditional blocks, can be assembled by a layperson, and can be disassembled and redeployed.

In the news:

• Indiana Business Journal
• Business Wire
• Herald Bulletin

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