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Researcher continues KU’s storied history in helium discovery
LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas lab director has been awarded $500,000 from the National Science Foundation to recycle helium from research equipment. His efforts will help ensure future generations of scientists have access to the nonrenewable gas that’s needed for many areas of research. “We’ve been using helium scientifically and for various industrial purposes for more than 100 years now,” said Justin Douglas, director of KU’s Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Laboratory and lead researcher on the project. “Unfortunately, there’s only so much of it that’s trapped within the Earth’s crust that we can get to in a reasonable way.”
KU to welcome high school students in 7th annual Summer Venture in Business
LAWRENCE – The University of Kansas School of Business will host its seventh annual Summer Venture in Business program for high school students from June 11-16. The pre-college program gives 10th, 11th and 12th grade high school students from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds and/or potential first-generation college students an opportunity to explore the different business school majors. KU will welcome students from more than 40 high schools, including from Kansas and the Greater Kansas City area.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Vince Munoz, Office of Research, 785-864-2254, [email protected],
Researcher continues KU’s storied history in helium discovery
LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas lab director has been awarded $500,000 from the National Science Foundation to recycle helium from research equipment. His efforts will help ensure future generations of scientists have access to the nonrenewable gas that’s needed for many areas of research.
“We’ve been using helium scientifically and for various industrial purposes for more than 100 years now,” said Justin Douglas, director of KU’s Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Laboratory and lead researcher on the project. “Unfortunately, there’s only so much of it that’s trapped within the Earth’s crust that we can get to in a reasonable way.”
Helium is used in a number of important scientific instruments, including nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers that allow researchers to determine the structure of molecules. Douglas estimates that about 200 students, faculty and staff use these instruments at KU alone in fields ranging from chemistry and pharmacy to biology and engineering.
Helium molecules are small enough to escape Earth’s atmosphere once released into the air. Without new recycling methods like the one Douglas is developing, future scientists won’t be able to conduct the same experiments used today.
“I’ve always used these instruments, and I’ve always seen that there’s a little port in the back. As the helium evaporates, it just sort of escapes,” Douglas said. “It’s always bugged me that … we weren’t doing anything to collect it.”
Helium has a unique connection to both KU and the state of Kansas. In 1903, residents of Dexter, a small town southeast of Wichita, discovered a large well of natural gas. But attempts to light the well caused confusion when the gas would not burn.
Then-KU geology professor Erasmus Haworth heard about the mystery and brought samples back to Lawrence. Two chemistry professors, Hamilton Cady and David McFarland, began two years of research to understand the phenomenon. In December of 1905 in a laboratory in KU’s Bailey Hall, the two discovered the gas contained helium, which at the time was thought to be present only in the sun and in trace amounts of a mineral called cleveite.
In 1917 the U.S. government began funding research into potential military applications for helium due to aircraft usage in the first world war. Today helium is used in low-temperature physics, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), arc welding and more.
“At the University of Kansas, we were pioneers in the discovery of terrestrial sources of liquid helium, and I think we should be pioneers in the recovery and recycling of this precious nonrenewable resource,” Douglas said.
To capture helium from research equipment, Douglas will connect ports to a 300-cubic-foot bag. After the bag fills up, he will compress the gas into high-pressure cylinders, purify it, and convert it to liquid for scientific and industrial use.
“At some point, our grandchildren are going to need to answer important scientific questions, and they’re going to need liquid helium to do this sort of research — be it low-temperature physics, or chemistry, or engineering or pharmacy,” Douglas said. “So I think it’s really important that we do what we can to recover this resource.”
Douglas’ work exemplifies KU’s strength in research focused on earth, energy and environment, one of KU’s five strategic research themes. This area will increase understanding of the various dimensions and impacts of climate change on human and natural systems, developing new technologies and mitigation strategies with an ultimate goal of sustaining the life of the planet and its inhabitants.
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Contact: Ashleigh Lee, School of Business, [email protected], @KUbschool
KU to welcome high school students in 7th annual Summer Venture in Business
LAWRENCE – The University of Kansas School of Business will host its seventh annual Summer Venture in Business program for high school students from June 11-16.
The pre-college program gives 10th, 11th and 12th grade high school students from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds and/or potential first-generation college students an opportunity to explore the different business school majors. Students stay on campus and get exposure to business topics, resources for applying to KU and tools to be successful in college and beyond at no cost to the participants. This is the first year the program will host students for an entire week rather than two sessions throughout the summer.
The 2023 cohort includes students from 40 high schools in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, South Carolina and Texas. Represented high schools include:
Kansas
1. Bishop Seabury Academy and Free State High School in Lawrence
2. Washburn Rural High School in Topeka
3. Shawnee Heights Senior High School in Tecumseh
4. De Soto High School in De Soto
5. Basehor-Linwood High School in Basehor
6. Piper High School in Piper
7. Bishop Ward High School, Sumner Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Wyandotte High School in Kansas City
8. Blue Valley North High School, Blue Valley Northwest High School, Blue Valley West High School, Shawnee Mission North High School and Shawnee Mission South High School in Overland Park
9. Maranatha Academy and Mill Valley High School in Shawnee
10. Olathe East High School, Olathe North High School, Olathe Northwest High School, Olathe South High School and Olathe West High School in Olathe
11. Willard M Academy (homeschooling) in Lenexa
12. Rock Creek Junior/Senior High School in St. George
13. Manhattan High School in Manhattan
14. Derby High School in Derby
15. Bishop Carroll Catholic High School and Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School in Wichita
16. Sacred Heart Junior/Senior High School in Salina
Missouri
1. Lincoln College Preparatory Academy and University Academy Charter School in Kansas City
2. William Chrisman High School in Independence
3. De Smet Jesuit High School in Creve Coeur
4. Pattonville High School in Maryland Heights
5. Rockwood Summit High School and Lutheran High School North in St. Louis
Illinois, South Carolina and Texas
1. Belleville Township High School West in Belleville, Illinois
2. Clinton High School in Clinton, South Carolina
3. Azle High School in Azle, Texas
4. St. Paul’s Preparatory Academy in Arlington, Texas
Dyamond Ross, pre-collegiate program coordinator for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) at the business school, will oversee program activities, which will be conducted by KU business faculty, staff and students, along with campus partners and industry professionals. The agenda includes workshops about college and career preparedness, lectures about a selection of the school’s academic majors, company tours of KPMG in Kansas City, Missouri, and Huhtamaki in De Soto, social activities and a poster presentation.
Featured sponsors of this year’s program are the Capitol Federal Foundation, Evergy, Hallmark, KPMG, Meritrust Credit Union, Network Kansas and TIAA.
The inaugural Summer Venture in Business was held in 2017 after former KU Student Body President Stephonn Alcorn and Vice President Gabby Naylor, both of whom are KU business school graduates, introduced the program in their 2016 Student Senate coalition.
More information about Summer Venture in Business can be found at business.ku.edu/svb.
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