Academic News

The Optima 8000

The Chemical/Biosciences instrumental laboratory recently gained a valuable new tool: a Perkin Elmer Optima 8000 ICP-OES spectrometer. ICP is an acronym for “inductively coupled plasma,” while OES stands for “optical emission spectroscopy.” OES is a method of analyzing chemical mixtures or solutions to determine concentrations of trace elements. In this technique, a sample of the material being analyzed is energized to excite its atoms. Since the excited atoms of each element emit light at specific characteristic wavelengths, the presence and the amounts of various elements can be determined by monitoring the emitted light. Some instruments use the heat of a flame to excite the sample, but ICP uses a “plasma” made of ionized argon gas energized by an electromagnetic field.

One of the most important features of an ICP instrument is its very low detection limit. An ICP can typically detect the presence of analytes, such as arsenic or lead in drinking water, at concentrations below one part per billion. When you consider that one part per billion is the equivalent of one second out of a time span of 32 years, the amazing ability of this instrument becomes obvious.

The department is excited about having this new instrument on board and to be able to allow students to gain some valuable hands-on experience in this state-of-the-art analytical technology.

Solvatochromism was used to determine the polarity of ethyl lactate.

Red River College encourages instructional staff to undertake original research and, last year, faculty in the chemical and biosciences program spent some time looking at ways to improve a common analytical method. High performance liquid chromatography, or HPLC, is very widely used in chemical labs and processing facilities to separate and analyze chemical mixtures. However, most HPLC systems employ liquid solvents, such as methanol, which are often toxic.

Curtis Aab and Michael Judge were curious as to whether these toxic solvents could be replaced with a different, more environmentally-friendly liquid. They used ethyl lactate, a solvent which is so safe that it can be applied as an ingredient in cosmetics and foods. Research at the College demonstrated that ethyl lactate could indeed replace methanol when analyzing different pharmaceutical compounds using an officially approved HPLC method. Subsequent work by chemical/biosciences students extended the range of pharmaceuticals which can be analyzed using ethyl lactate. These findings could potentially allow at least some of the thousands of HPLC systems worldwide to transition to a “greener” process.

The research results were accepted for publication in the Canadian Journal of Chemistry and appeared in the May 2013 issue under the title “Ethyl lactate as an environmentally friendly HPLC mobile-phase modifier in the analysis of acetaminophen, caffeine, and ASA.” A link to the journal website is provided below.

http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/journal/cjc

We are over-awesomed to welcome Manitoba’s innovation accelerator, Innovate Manitoba, as a Friend of WINNISPEED.

“Awesomeness builds velocity“, and we will be building lots of it June 10-11 when Joe comes to RRC for two separate builds of the Team WIKISPEED 100 mpg car.

Reserve your spot on either of the two days at https://blogs.rrc.ca/bit/event-registration/.

A student discusses dye oxidation results.

This April, the second year students of the Chemical and Biosciences Co-op diploma program presented the results of their independent research projects, representing many hours of hard work over the preceding four months. Each group of students worked independently under the supervision of a faculty member to perform a unique project designed to investigate various aspects of chemical or biological sciences. The projects were extremely varied and represented the wide array of skills taught in the program. The topics investigated were:

• Testing rice for arsenic using inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectroscopy
• Environmentally-friendly oxidation of dyes in wastewater via tungstate-catalyzed peroxide
• Antimicrobial properties of plant extracts
• Genetically modified foods in common grocery products
• Rates of methicillin-resistant bacteria in the general population
• A “green” solvent for use in liquid chromatography

Students presented a number of surprising and interesting findings, including evidence that at least one brand of “organic” snack foods contained genetically modified corn. Some of the student groups may go on to present their work at the upcoming Association of Analytical Communities (AOAC) event, June 6th at the Victoria Inn, right here in Winnipeg.

 
We invite the graphic design industry to our annual showcase of graduating student work
Thursday May 2, 4:30 pm
Roblin Centre, Princess & William

Guest Speaker Shayne Tupper at 7 pm

Shayne is a Montréal-born graphic design student and artist. He is a student in the graphic design program at UQÀM (Université du Québec à Montréal), set to graduate in 2014. In early 2012, coinciding with the Québec student strike, he and twelve other students founded the École de la Montagne Rouge, a student-run graphic design school. He has participated in exhibitions at Concordia University in Montreal and the Interference Archive in New-York City.

Click on About Us to learn about the Teacher Education Programs at Red River College and how to apply. Apply today to reserve your future!

Students from Red River College’s Business/Technology Teacher Education program extended their reach clear across the globe last month, while taking part in an international conference on emerging classroom technologies.

The students, all pre-service teachers in Eva Brown’s second-year Teacher Ed. ICT and Multimedia classes, were participants in the 2013 Flat Classroom Conference, held March 8-10 at Yokohama International School in Japan.

Read the full report and see their video

Would you like your business to run 100% faster? 1,000?

Some WIKISPEED projects move 10,000% faster than industry norms because of their blend of Agile, Lean, Scrum, and Extreme Programming & Manufacturing practices. WIKISPEED has some of the best in the world when it comes to Agile for software, manufacturing, R&D, and other industries.

Here’s your chance. WINNIspeed is WIKIspeed, the Winnipeg agile event of 2013. Build a car with Joe Justice of Team WIKISPEED June 10-11. And in the process, learn how agile can transform your organization to reach that 10,000%.

Josh Pruden and Joel Gamache along with their team placed 1st in the NASA App Challenge 2013. The event was hosted at the University of Manitoba. Living on Mars Challenge, CTV News