CMU is one of five schools in the country to split a 4.8 million dollar grant for research into molecular modeling.
The grant supports computer-based modeling of atoms. Which allows for faster and more accurate research in fields like chemistry and physics.
Dr. Koblar Alan Jackson and Dr. Juan Peralta are partners in the grant and Physics professors at CMU. Jackson said the research will help them advance beyond mixing chemicals in a lab.
“Increasingly that work is supported by computational modeling. So imagine that you can model or predict the outcome of reactions on a computer by literally modeling how the atoms interact.”
Jackson said the research goal is to try to predict how atoms and molecules interact. CMU is the lead institution in the work. Others involved include University of Texas El Paso, Temple University, University of Florida, and University of Pittsburgh.