Technical Directors appointed at WEST Center
Dr. Luisa Ikner (left) and Dr. Bianca Miguel de Souza Chaves (right)
The WEST Center is a collaborative and interdisciplinary research facility. It boasts the advantage of a large amount of shared laboratory space and equipment, available for use by many research faculty for a variety of ongoing projects. It is an efficient and dynamic environment. However, coordinated maintenance, operation, and proper use of shared resources is critical to maintaining excellent research and teaching.
With a need to streamline oversight of common instruments and spaces, two new Technical Directors were appointed at WEST in late 2024.
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Technical Director, Dr. Ikner, oversees microbiology equipment at WEST Center.
For Environmental Science-focused laboratories at WEST, Dr. Luisa Ikner, Assistant Professor in Environmental Science (ENVS), took on the title of Technical Director of Microbiology Operations. In this role, Dr. Ikner is responsible for ensuring the calibration, operation, maintenance, and proper use of shared equipment including, for example, the autoclave, biosafety cabinets, centrifuges, micropipettes, and pH meters.
As stated by WEST Director, Dr. Ian Pepper, “This appointment will formalize and centralize these duties to ensure continuity of high-level research operations in the environmental microbiology unit at the WEST Center. It will also satisfy future U.S. Environmental Protection Agency audit requirements for organizational structure, and ultimately propel the WEST Center towards achieving Good Laboratory Practice Standards for compliance purposes.”
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Engineering equipment at WEST (e.g., RO apparatus) is managed by CHEE Technical Director, Dr. Chaves.
For laboratories and equipment used by personnel and students from the Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department (CHEE), WEST Deputy Directory, Dr. Andrea Achilli, appointed Dr. Bianca Miguel de Souza Chaves to the Technical Director role. Dr. Chaves is a Researcher/Scientist at WEST Center and is responsible for managing several CHEE-focused projects. In her capacity as Technical Director, she coordinates the maintenance and operation of ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis (RO) equipment as well as oversees other engineering instruments and laboratory space.
Dr. Chaves and Dr. Ikner, seen here with Dr. Achilli, are collaborators at WEST. They were recently appointed Technical Directors of the Center.
The appointment of Technical Directors is an important step to maintaining the high-quality research conducted at WEST. Congratulations to Dr. Ikner and Dr. Chaves, and many thanks to them for their efforts!