Proposal

The Chemistry department is seeking to upgrade the computer lab located on the Boca Raton campus (Physical Sciences, Building 55, Room 228 or PS-228). This room is used on a weekly basis for teaching Physical Chemistry and Biochemistry Lab, and when not used for class it is used by Chemistry students as a computer lab for undergraduate and graduate student research to perform computational studies and data analysis. 

Physical Chemistry 1 and 2 courses are required to be taken by all Chemistry majors in the fall and spring semesters.  The typical class sizes are ~40 students in the fall for Physical Chemistry 1 and ~30 students in the spring for Physical Chemistry 2.  In these classes students are required to perform computational chemistry and molecular modeling using the Gaussian software package, which is the world’s leading software package for such studies.  The students also use the computers in this facility to perform data analysis for, and preparation of, laboratory reports and homework assignments.  The principal software package that students need for their data analyses is Origin 9.0.  Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint are also routinely used by the students for lab report and homework production.  Biochemistry laboratory students (~20 students spring and fall) also utilize this facility for laboratory report production.

The PS-228 computer lab also caters for ~30 (per semester) Directed Independent Study (DIS) undergraduate researchers as well as ~30 Ph.D. and M.S. students in the department of chemistry.  Gaussian is used by several research groups in the department (e.g., Terentis, West, Mari, Lepore, Du, de Lill, and Snyder research groups), thus impacting the research of a large portion of these undergraduate and graduate research students.  The PS-228 computer lab is a vital support facility for both undergraduate and graduate teaching and research.

The current computers being used in this lab are over five years old and rapidly becoming obsolete and they are beginning to experience memory issues. This computer lab is maintained by the College of Science IT support staff and not managed or supported by OIT.  In conclusion, upgrading this computer lab with new state of the art computers, Ethernet network drops, software and a network printer will greatly improve student learning and undergraduate and graduate student research.

The Chemistry department is seeking to upgrade the computer lab located on the Boca Raton campus (Physical Sciences, Building 55, Room 228 or PS-228) by adding and installing 32 Cat 6 connections and cables as well as upgrading the computers and software.  Currently there are 10 computers in this lab that are over five years old and rapidly becoming obsolete and they are beginning to cause memory issues.  We wish to replace these old computers and expand the total number in the lab to 20 stations. Required software for teaching and research will also be upgraded.  An additional laptop computer is requested for Instructor teaching support.

All proposed computers fully comply with OIT standards. The 20 student work-stations will cost $1,286 per computer, and the price of two new LaserJet printers will be $1,391.  The cost to install 32 Cat 6 cables is $6,012.  The instructional laptop computer will cost $1992.

Currently we have a perpetual site license for the single-CPU 32 bit version of Gaussian.  We wish to upgrade to the multiprocessor/core 32- & 64-bit version for Windows, which is quoted to cost $5,100 for a perpetual site license.  We also request a new TCP Linda license (for 32-bit cluster and LAN parallel execution of Gaussian) at a cost of $2,000.  These upgrades will improve the speed and capacity of the Gaussian calculations. The software complies with OIT standards.

Currently we have a 10 seat teaching license for Origin 9 that must be renewed each year. This year it cost $690.  We estimate the cost for renewal for a 20 seat license to be ~$1,400 per year.  We request funds to renew this license for the next three years. The software complies with OIT standards.

We would also like to install Adobe Acrobat XI Pro on each machine to facilitate student lab report preparation for the lab classes. The price is $80 per machine and $10 for the DVD.

In the event of this proposal being funded the installation will be completed by the College of Science IT support staff during the 2014 summer break ready for use for fall 2014.

The Chemistry Department in-conjunction with the College of Science IT support staff will provide continuing support to sustain this lab.

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In the event of this proposal being funded the installation will be completed by the College of Science IT support staff. No additional costs are anticipated for this project.