Notre Dame Sensor Initiative announces installment of new, specialized mass spectrometers

The original article was written by Erin Fennessy.

Earlier this spring, the Notre Dame Sensor Initiative (NDSI) installed two new instruments in the Analytical Science and Engineering (ASEND) core facility, made possible with funding from the Bioengineering and Life Sciences (BELS) Initiative and support from Notre Dame Research.

A new permanent acquisition, a Shimadzu LCMS-8050 Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer, is engineered for fast, high-sensitivity quantitation. The instrument features high speed polarity switching times and rapid rates of data acquisition, serving as an important tool for rapid multi-component analysis and simultaneous qualitative and quantitative testing.

Notre Dame Serving Community Analytical Needs (ND-SCAN), a project of the NDSI, will employ the Shimadzu LCMS-8050 in service of research on the opioid crisis and dual-use sensing technology.

In addition, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments has loaned a LCMS-9050 Q-TOF Mass Spectrometer to ND-SCAN for one year. The Quadrupole Time-of-Flight (Q-TOF) mass spectrometer features stable polarity switching and high-precision temperature control, allowing for simultaneous positive and negative ion analysis. The instrument will support advanced testing capabilities and the development of a shared data library.

“Integrating these top-of-the-line, highly-sensitive mass spectrometers into the ASEND facility dramatically elevates Notre Dame’s analytical capabilities, allowing us to map complex chemical data faster than ever before,” said Nosang Myung, the Bernard Keating-Crawford Professor of Engineering, who also serves as faculty director of the NDSI and the ASEND core facility. “This cutting-edge technology will empower our faculty and students to drive high-impact research, directly fueling ND-SCAN’s critical mission to address urgent societal challenges like the opioid crisis.”

The instruments are available for use through the ASEND core facility. 

NDSI and ND-SCAN are supported in part by the Notre Dame Bioengineering & Life Sciences Initiative, an effort that aims to advance human health and wellness through interdisciplinary biomedical research and training. To learn more, please visit the NDSI website and the University’s Strategic Framework website.

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Giving to Notre Dame helps researchers secure the resources and state-of-the-art instruments needed to pursue groundbreaking discoveries. Investments in advanced technology—like these specialized mass spectrometers—expand what faculty and students can measure, analyze, and understand, accelerating research that responds to urgent challenges and advances knowledge in service of the common good.