Shimadzu Scientific Instruments has donated $7.5 million to support The University of Texas at Arlington’s Institute for Research Technologies — a record contribution to the university. The gift will support one of the most significant installments of advanced scientific equipment in the US. In honor of the gift, the university will rename the institute the Shimadzu Institute for Research Technologies. “We are grateful for this generous support from Shimadzu and for their strategic relationship with The University of Texas at Arlington,” said James D. Spaniolo, UT Arlington president. “This partnership promises to make north Texas a new hub of scientific discovery and innovation. The Shimadzu Institute will be a magnet for world-class students and a resource for discovery across Texas and beyond.” Students work in the Shimadzu Center for Advanced Analytical Chemistry at The University of Texas at Arlington. Courtesy of UT Arlington. The institute will house $25.2 million in equipment from Shimadzu, including some instruments that will debut in the US for the first time. The facility will also include the Shimadzu Center for Advanced Analytical Chemistry, which was established in 2012, and the newly created Center for Imaging and Center for Environmental, Forensic and Material Analysis. “The Shimadzu Institute for Research Technologies will allow our students to examine their world at a level they’ve only dreamed of, from using light to see how parts of the brain function together to finding environmental contaminants as small as one part per billion in a sample of drinking water,” said Pamela Jansma, dean of the UT Arlington College of Science. “Their experiences will position them for lifelong success in critical fields.” UT Arlington and Shimadzu have collaborated for nearly a decade. In April 2012, the company made an in-kind gift of equipment valued at nearly $3 million to establish the Shimadzu Center for Advanced Analytical Chemistry within the UT Arlington College of Science. In November, the board of regents allocated $7.5 million from the permanent university fund to help establish the Institute for Research Technologies in partnership with Shimadzu. “We have been pleased to find in UT Arlington kindred spirits who are committed to providing students the highest-quality education possible through access to the most advanced scientific equipment,” said Shuzo Maruyama, president of Shimadzu Scientific Instruments. “Our technologies enable research that improves people’s lives, and we have a great passion for preparing students to be the next generation of great scientists.” Columbia, Md.-based Shimadzu Scientific is the US subsidiary of Shimadzu Corp. of Kyoto, Japan. For more information, visit: www.uta.edu