COSTA MESA : OCC Wins Grant for New Biology Computers
Orange Coast College’s biology department has won a $42,000 National Science Foundation grant to upgrade its computer equipment. The award is the first from the NSF to the Costa Mesa school.
“It is quite an honor to receive a National Science Foundation grant,” said Patsee Ober, Orange Coast College’s grant writer.
The money will be spent for interactive computer hardware and software that will allow students to simulate some experiments without setting foot in a laboratory.
Biology Prof. Ann Harmer said the students will use the new computers to simulate human dissection and get lessons on various body parts and their functions.
“They will be able to isolate the cardiovascular system or nervous system and look at all the parts of it and how they work together,” Harmer said.
Perhaps most exciting to the faculty, Harmer said, is that students will be able to simulate experiments on animals without using animals and without exposing students and teachers to toxic chemicals.
The lab is expected to be fully operational by the college’s fall semester, which begins Aug. 21.
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