PLAINVIEW, TX — Wayland Baptist University has added its first mass spectrometer, a $115,000 instrument made possible by a second Welch Foundation equipment grant and additional support from individual donors and alumni.
Wayland received a $75,000 Welch Equipment Grant toward the purchase of the compact mass spectrometer from Advion. Another $40,000 in gifts from individuals and alumni completed funding for the instrument, which was purchased in June and installed on campus the week of Aug. 3.
The award is Wayland’s second Welch Equipment Grant and builds on a relationship that has supported the university’s Welch Summer Research Program since 2005.
“This equipment grant is another tremendous investment by the Welch Foundation in the research opportunities available to our students,” said Dr. Robert Moore, Professor of Chemistry and director of the Welch Summer Research Program. “Adding mass spectrometry opens the door to many new investigative approaches, while also giving our students experience with a technique that is widely used in industry and medicine.”
Mass spectrometry allows scientists to rapidly detect and identify the molecular composition of samples by analyzing the molecular masses of their components. Wayland’s new instrument can receive samples in several ways, including direct injection of liquids, touch analysis of objects using a glass probe, and an open interface capable of analyzing larger molecules such as proteins and polymers.
The instrument also is modular, allowing Wayland to add components in the future that could further expand its research capabilities.
One potential addition is high-performance liquid chromatography, or HPLC, which separates mixtures into individual molecular components before the mass spectrometer identifies them. That capability could be especially useful in analyzing complex mixtures such as the vaping aerosols already being studied through Wayland’s undergraduate research program.
Another possible addition, the TLC Plate Express, could allow researchers to identify molecular components directly from thin-layer chromatography plates. The technology could save time and resources in research such as Wayland’s studies involving potential cancer-fighting compounds isolated from complex biological mixtures, including plant extracts.
The new mass spectrometer also will become part of the student learning experience beyond summer research.
“We expect this instrument to become a valuable tool across a wide range of research projects, just as the equipment purchased through our first Welch Equipment Grant has,” said Dr. Clancy Collom, Assistant Professor of Chemistry. “But its impact will go beyond research. Students can begin using mass spectrometry concepts as early as General Chemistry II and continue working with the technology in advanced courses such as Instrumental Analysis and Biochemistry.”
Wayland was among approximately a dozen institutions invited to apply when the Welch Equipment Grant was first offered in 2023 and is among the first group of universities invited to seek a second award. The equipment grants are available by invitation only to chemistry programs actively receiving a Welch Departmental Research Grant.
The university has received that departmental grant continuously since 2005. The funding supports the Welch Summer Research Program, which gives selected undergraduate students an intensive research experience built around eight weeks of full-time summer laboratory work. Students work with faculty mentors to develop research projects and later present their findings at scientific meetings.
Wayland used its first Welch Equipment Grant in 2023 to purchase a Citation-1 Multimode Plate Imager and an Nanalysis 60-Pro Nuclear Magnetic Resonance instrument The Citation-1 has become a workhorse for Wayland research, supporting cell viability assays, cell counting and imaging, as well as fluorescent polarization used to quantify DNA binding. The nuclear magnetic resonance instrument supports research while also providing students with hands-on opportunities to explore concepts in organic and physical chemistry.
Moore expects the mass spectrometer to become similarly integrated into Wayland’s research program and science curriculum, adding another sophisticated analytical tool undergraduate students can use as they move from learning scientific concepts to conducting original research.
