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  • Minnesota State University chemistry professor Brian Groh (right) explains how a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer works. Also pictured are 3M project manager Allan Bohlke (middle) and 3M lab manager Jim Elvecrog. John Cross

    3M donation

July 13, 2007

3M donation boosts chemistry at MSU

Robb Murray

MANKATO — A generous donation from a corporate giant has the folks in Minnesota State University’s chemistry and geology department a bit smiley these days.

One of Minnesota’s most powerful nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers was installed and fired up in MSU’s Trafton Science Center. The machine, which arrived in June but wasn’t fully put together until Thursday, was a gift from 3M.

The new machine now sits in a drab room on the third floor of the Trafton, but that’s just a temporary home. When the Trafton addition is completed sometime next year, the machine will be moved to fresher digs. Together with accessories, it is valued at about $850,000.

Technology-wise, it is quite similar to the MRI machines used in clinics and hospitals. It uses a powerful magnetic field to analyze substances at a molecular level.

MSU has a machine that does that now, but it is old and has only a fraction of the power this one has.

The new one weighs in at 1,600 pounds and stands 7 feet tall. It’s not exactly new. 3M has used the machine for about seven years. Even so, it’s easily the most powerful nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer in the MnSCU system.

Such a machine, says Brian Groh of the chemistry and geology department, will help the university in several ways.

“It will allow us to do things we don’t have the capability of doing right now,” Groh said Thursday at a news conference. “It will benefit students in terms of teaching ... and help open doors for us in procuring grants.”

Recruitment, Groh said, also will get a boost. Demographics show the number of available high school students will shrink in the coming decade. That means the colleges and universities in the state will be competing even harder for fewer students. This kind of machine will help with that.

Getting more grant money sort of works on the old “you have to spend money to make money” adage.

Bringing in a machine of this value makes it easier to conduct the kind of complex research that more often gets rewarded with grants. The fact MSU didn’t have to pay for it is even better.

That came about the old-fashioned way: connections.

Allan Bohlke is a project manager for 3M. He also happens to be an MSU alumnus, class of 1986, chemistry major. And it didn’t hurt he’s the president of the alumni association.

“He asked me, ‘What is the main thing you need in your department?’” Groh said. “And I said, ‘I’m afraid to ask, but the No. 1 thing is an NMR.’”

3M lab manager Jim Elvecrog, said at the news conference that his company used the machine to develop new drugs.

Groh said students at all levels of chemistry, from introductory classes to advanced, will have access to the machine.

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