Through the tumbling of molecules in powerful magnetic fields, SBASSE offers a unique opportunity to explorers for understanding the structure of the microcosm. Dr. Adil Raees, NMR Lab Manager commented on the NMR Training Internship program, “The purpose is to help students better understand NMR theories and ideas by actively engaging them in a hands-on learning experience.”

NMR spectrometers allow us to characterize the structure of molecules, but it takes high skills to first acquire data and then analyze it through sophisticated computer software. Through this internship, students can learn and develop these skills. In addition, internship experience can offer students the important benefits of career exploration in various commercial industries that are already benefiting from the use of the NMR, include the pharmaceutical, petroleum, and materials industry.

The latest cohort saw two interns, Sumaira Hameed and Hina Khan, take on the challenge. The following is a snippet of their experience, in their own words.

Sumaira Hameed

I am currently enrolled in the MS Chemistry program at the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering. The 600MHz NMR coupled with a triple resonance probe, installed in the basement of SBASSE was itself a motivation for me to play around with my curiosity.

This internship provided me a chance to get hands-on training on NMR sample preparation, acquisition of data on various multinuclear and multidimensional techniques, processing and plotting of acquired data after the Fourier transformation through the amazing software, Topspin. The most interesting session was finding troubleshooting strategies and the maintenance of the mammoth instrument. For maintaining NMR spectrometer, liquid nitrogen was used to provide the optimum temperature for its superconducting magnet, a refilling process that repeats weekly. I must acknowledge that refilling the NMR instrument needs skilled expertise, which Dr. Adil very diligently helped instill in us.

My experience during the Internship was one filled with gathering knowledge of new things. Through the mentorship of Dr. Adil Raees I was able to groom my sampling and instrumental handling skills.

I highly recommend this program to my juniors and to upcoming, specifically to those who want to pursue higher studies. In conclusion, I would like to thank Dr. Shahzad ul Hussan and Dr. Ghayoor Abbas for considering me for this memorable opportunity.

Hina khan 

I have recently completed MS in Chemistry from SBASSE. For my masters, I pursued research in organic chemistry which involves the analysis and characterization of the synthesized compounds and drugs by different analytical techniques like FT-IR, GC-MS and NMR spectroscopy, of these techniques NMR holds great importance in research because it can help a researcher confirm formation of the desired compounds. This formed the basis of my interest and therefore I applied for the training. Fortunately, I got the chance to avail the training of NMR Instrument under the supervision of Dr. Adil Raees.

It was a great learning experience for me. I was amazed at such a huge and sensitive NMR instrument and how effortlessly it helped analyze our synthesized compounds. I also learned how to run 1D, 2D, proton, carbon (Broadband), DEPT, COSY, NOESY, etc. We were trained on how to prepare a sample and what should be the most suitable solvent according to the nature and solubility of the sample and the choice of a suitable experiment. We then took on plotting and interpretation of spectra after data acquisition. Thus, data reduction and analysis were also great learning experiences for me.

Overall, it was a highly engaging experience. I recommend this training to my juniors. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Ghayoor Abbas and Dr. Shahzad ul Hussan for considering my application and giving me this opportunity to learn.