Office of Research & Innovation
Annual Report

Core Facilities Milestones

Academic Year 2023-2024 Annual Report

The Office of Research and Innovation operates four University Core Facilities that help drive innovation and discovery in a variety of high-impact research areas. The Cores provide access to state-of-the-art instrumentation, training and services, expert technical staff, and advanced laboratory space and are available to all Drexel faculty and student researchers.

More specifically, the Materials Characterization Core, Cell Imaging Center, and University Research Computing Facility host some of the most cutting-edge instrumental and technical capabilities on campus and are hubs of high-impact research, innovation, collaboration, and learning. This year these centrally-reporting core facilities served over 145 Drexel faculty and almost 500 researchers including undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral students, and research scientists from 10 of Drexel’s Colleges and Schools. Researchers using the ORI Cores authored over 375 peer-reviewed publications this year – 26% of Drexel’s total research output. Research expenditures for those same investigators topped $29.6M – 19% of Drexel’s total research expenditures in FY2024.

Materials Characterization Core (MCC)

The MCC is a multi-user facility that provides technical expertise and instrumentation for research in variety of areas including nanoscience and engineering, polymer research, biomedical engineering, and chemistry and physics of solid materials. The MCC occupies a 3,500 square foot laboratory in the Bossone Research Enterprise Building on Drexel's main campus that houses several electron microscopes, X-ray diffractometers, an X-ray photoelectron spectrometer, and a suite of sample preparation tools.

In AY 2023-2024, 155 MCC users clocked 7,568 instrument hours. Users represented 47 faculty research groups from 5 Drexel Colleges and Schools.

Additional highlights include:

  • A team of students, faculty and MCC staff are developing two novel in situ scanning electron microscope stages for the study of advanced battery materials being developed in Drexel research laboratories. A provisional patent application was submitted in July for the design of a windowed coin-cell architecture that enables imaging of batteries with liquid electrolytes under realistic charge-discharge conditions. Experiments are also being developed using a solid-state electrochemical holder suitable for similar measurements on batteries with solid polymer electrolytes.
  • We completed installation of a major upgrade to our X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS) in May 2024. The upgrade includes all new electronics, new control computer and software, and an upgraded analyzer and detector. The XPS was acquired in 2012 with funds from Drexel and the NSF. The present upgrade will modernize the system so that it is equivalent to current technology. The new analyzer and detector will improve the system’s sensitivity and limit of detection. Finally, this investment will ensure that the system continues to offer XPS capability for several years to come.
  • In collaboration with Prof. Jill Wenderott (MSE), in May 2024 we installed the Rigaku ReactorX in situ gas reaction chamber on the SmartLab X-ray diffractometer. The ReactorX system enables researchers to investigate reaction pathways during growth and evolution of new materials with energy and sustainability applications.
  • Provided support for several Drexel courses including demos for over 80 incoming freshmen participating in the MSE 2-Day Materials Course.
  • Provided demos for high school students participating in the  Materials Camp hosted by Drexel’s Materials Science and Engineering Department in conjunction with the local chapter of ASM International.

Please email Dr. Craig Johnson for more information about the MCC.

Cell Imaging Center (CIC)

The CIC is a multi-user facility housed in purpose-built imaging suites in the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building and in the Bossone Research Center. The CIC serves the light microscopy needs of Drexel researchers from a variety of academic colleges and departments including the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering, the School of Biomedical Engineering, and the College of Medicine.

In AY 2023-2024, 86 CIC users clocked 3,813 instrument hours. Users represented 27 faculty research groups from 4 Drexel Colleges and Schools.

Additional highlights include:

  • The CIC has enlisted Dr. Beatriz Hernaez Estrada as a flow cytometer specialist to help manage our newly acquired BD FACSymphony A1 flow cytometer. Flow cytometry enables rapid but complex analysis of single cells and is critical to Cell and Gene Therapy research. Bea is jointly appointed as a Research Scientist in Kara Spiller’s lab in Biomed and has extensive experience as a flow cytometer operator. Bea has already begun training new users on the system.

Please email Dr. Harini Sreenivasappa for more information about the CIC.

University Research Computing Facility (URCF)

The URCF provides high-performance scientific computing and secure data storage (including for protected health information) to both the Drexel community and other universities in the Philadelphia area. The URCF’s 1,600 square-foot data center houses the Picotte cluster, which consists of Standard CPU Nodes, Large Memory Nodes, GPU Nodes and storage, and was acquired through a combined $1.2 million investment funded by Drexel and an award from the National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation program. Picotte was named in honor of Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte, the first Native American to earn a medical degree and a Drexel alum.

In AY 2023-2024, 229 researchers from 71 different research groups submitted almost a million jobs to the Picotte computing cluster in the URCF.

Additional highlights include:

  • Throughout AY23-24, Linh Ngo, Director of High-Performance Computing, ran a series of workshops in on practical high-performance computing topics ranging from an Introduction to Picotte (the Drexel cluster) to instructional workshops on coding in Python and statistical analysis in R. The workshops were attended by hundreds of Drexel students and researchers from across most schools and colleges.
  • Starting in May 2024, the URCF opened access to a Free Compute Tier on Picotte that is available to all approved users. Users can also access a Priority Tier for a fee. The Priority Tier allows use of the full performance of Picotte with limited wait time (the Free Tier has performance limitations and may have longer wait times). We are also reducing the cost of data storage on the URCF’s HIPPA/PHI compliant Isilon data storage system.
  • Development is underway on a new shared computing cluster for Data Intensive Science and Engineering (DISE; $3.9M NSF MRI Award; Lead PI Joshua Agar – MEM). The DISE system is anticipated to provide a data storage solution to most of Drexel’s research community and high-speed compute capabilities for artificial intelligence and machine learning applications. After a full bidding process vendor Cambridge Computer was selected to configure the hardware components. Some of the hardware, including state of the art AI-focused GPU servers, have been delivered already and more is on the way.

Please email Dr. Geoffery Mainland for more information about the URCF.

University Laboratory Animal Resources (ULAR)

The University Laboratory Animal Resource provides for the care, health and well-being of animals used in research and education programs at Drexel University, provides expertise and resources to researchers, and serves the public by ensuring observance of all legal and ethical standards pertaining to animals in research.

In AY 2023-2024, University Laboratory Animal Resources (ULAR) provided animal husbandry, medical assistance, research assistance and guidance to 53 PIs and research laboratories at four Drexel campuses, including an average daily census of 2217 enclosures housing 5160 mice and rats.

Additional highlights include:

  • On July 1, 2024, ULAR began providing services to the Salus facility and incorporated this site into its program of animal care and use. 
  • In October the animal care and use program received a triennial site visit from AAALAC, International, and after responding to critiques, should receive Continued Full Accreditation after the Council meets in January.
  • ULAR management worked with the RBOT team to continue to utilize InfoEd and to evaluate vendors for COEUS replacement software including the animal care module.
  • ULAR staff received continuing education at local and national AALAS meetings; Sean Daniels and Alexandra Middlebrook have been promoted to dual roles as Caretakers and Trainers delivering orientation training sessions that are distinct from technical training for onboarding lab staff at both the NCB and QL animal facilities.
  • Dr. Huneke continues to serve as an AAALAC, International Council member, is a member of the BOD for the Pennsylvania Society of Biomedical Research and Americans for Medical Progress and serves as the National AALAS representative to ICLAS (International Council for Laboratory Animal Science), where he serves as a member of the governing board and vice chair of the Americas committee.

Please email Andrea McCurry for more information about ULAR.

To learn more about shared research resources on campus, please visit the Core Facilities website. For information about managing shared research infrastructure or establishing a research core facility, please email Dr. Craig Johnson.