A Networked NMR Spectrometer: Configuring a Shared Instrument

Andrews University (AU), Lake Michigan College (LMC), and Southwestern Michigan College (SMC) established an educational consortium in southwest lower Michigan. An FT-NMR spectrometer was installed at AU and networked with the community colleges. Students and faculty from LMC and SMC visit Andrews on a regular basis to receive training and operate the NMR. The instrument is accessible via the Internet for data acquisition, processing, and transfer. The spectrometer has helped the consortium schools improve the quality of chemistry education, exposed students in chemistry courses to the concepts and techniques of modern NMR spectroscopy, and strengthened the collaboration between the chemistry faculty of the three schools. This article describes the NMR network configuration and the methodology for NMR data acquisition and distribution.