Facilities
The shared complex of Faraday Hall and La Tourette Hall (formerly Faraday West) provides more than 66,000 square feet of research, instructional and office space to the chemistry faculty, staff and students. In support of the remarkable research and instruction conducted by our faculty and students, the following instrumentation and facilities are located and maintained in the department:
- Analytical Lab — The Analytical Lab is located in Faraday Hall 314–317 and houses shared analytical instrumentation of the NIU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Other instrumentation is available in the department and primarily used by one or more research groups.
- Computer Facilities —
- More than 50 Ethernet‐networked desktop PCs and workstations are used for computer‐aided experimentation, graphics generation and word processing.
- Sets of Silicon Graphics and Compaq DecAlpha workstations located in Faraday West serve as production machines for computational and theoretical chemistry calculations.
- All students have access to the Internet through computers located in the undergraduate and graduate research computer laboratories.
- A computer lab (Faraday Hall 231) consisting of 25 workstations, managed and staffed by Information Technology Services.
- Electronics Shop — An electronics engineer and engineering assistant are available to design and/or construct circuitry to solve measurement problems and maintain existing equipment.
- Faraday Library — The Faraday Library subscribes to more than 200 current chemistry periodicals and contains more than 10,000 bounded volumes.
- Machine Shop — The machine shop fabricates specialty devices and repairs laboratory instruments and components.
- Stockroom — The stockroom and laboratory facilities are staffed by a laboratory manager, stores supervisor and storekeeper. Equipment, solutions and chemicals for use in laboratory courses are prepared under their supervision. To order materials, please submit a completed Order Form.
