Constructed nearly 25 years ago, the lower division organic laboratories, used for Chem 30BL & Chem 30CL classes, were in desperate need of renovation.
The renovation, which will provide the students in the laboratory classes with a much more modern educational experience, is now underway and completion is expected in time for the Spring 2017 Quarter classes.
24 new state-of-the-art glass 360 degree visibility hoods will be installed in the two organic labs located on the first floor of Young Hall (rooms 1111 and 1096). The funding for the renovation has been provided by the Chancellor’s office.
The renovations will support the innovative new undergraduate laboratory experiments being developed by Professors Neil Garg and Hosea Nelson. Both have led extensive efforts to develop new curricula for the organic chemistry laboratory courses. Graduate students Lucas Morrill (Garg laboratory) and Alex Bagdasarian (Nelson Laboratory) have played key roles in designing experiments for the revamped courses. The courses are being co-taught with and further enhanced by Dr. Jacquelin Kammeyer, the Boyer-Teacher Scholar with Professor Heather Maynard, and Dr. Shuming Chen, the Cram Teacher-Scholar with Professor Ken Houk.
Because the department is home to one of the largest majors on the UCLA campus and is one of the most successful Chemistry/Biochemistry degree granting departments in the world, the renovation will help the department attain one of its key goals of increasing our enrollment capacities so that we can provide greater opportunity for students to take challenging classes that are necessary preparation for their future professional endeavors.
