NGCSU Center of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (CURCA) “The undergraduate research experience is an important part of a student's development. The upper administration, working with various interested faculty as a part of the Strategic Planning process, discussed the possibility that the institution should in some way support undergraduate research. The decision was made that a pilot program should be created in the School of Science and Health Professions under the leadership of Dr. Mike Bodri with the intention that the program become an institution-wide concern within a few years.  I was asked to serve as the director of the new center and was given the charge to develop the center.” states Mark Spraker, Physics. He goes on to say, “The purpose of the center is to provide incentives for faculty and students to pursue research projects. The projects can be developed by either faculty or students. CURCA will provide information and other resources to help faculty design projects that are accessible to undergraduates, and to provide students with information about what research opportunities are available. There are scholarships available for research." Sarah Formica, also in physics, is working with Desi Villalba, an undergraduate student. She comments, “With visions of graduate school in his future, Desmond Villalba is getting a head start with an undergraduate research project in physics.”  Working under the supervision of Dr. Mark Spraker and herself, Desi is building and optimizing an x-ray analysis system that consists of an x-ray source, a polycapillary x-ray optic, and an energy-sensitive silicon detector. Once completed, he will use the x-ray system for materials analysis with x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. These techniques will allow Desi to identify the chemical composition and crystal structure of materials. Since it incorporates a polycapillary optic, the table-top system will be as sensitive as some cyclotron facilities that can be miles in diameter, allowing Desi to detect trace amounts of materials on the order of parts per million and even parts per billion. This research experience will hopefully help to form collaborations with other physicists, as well as chemists, biologists, and geologists in the future.