A Morning At UNSAAC

11 September 2006

Upon invitation by Professor Mario Cumpa, we visited him in his laboratory at the University - Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco. http://www.unsaac.edu.pe/ From the pictures, you can see the state of their laboratories - age of equipment, lack of hoods, wood floors and wooden countertops, etc. (As we looked around, I thought about how Dad describes the laboratories at PCPS in the 1950's...) To the Peruvian´s credit, the state of the science and buildings are in MUCH better shape than what we experienced in Nicaragua. In fact, Mario Cumpa is conducting very interesting research. He investigates contamination of water supplies both into and out of the home. During our visit, we watched his two students splice the electrical cord of the vacuum pump in order to plug it in, then fire up an acetylene torch to run a spec to investigate the metal content (copper, iron, zinc, etc.) of particulate matter found in the water supply of local Cusco homes. Note the lack of ventilation for the equipment. The interesting difference between his research and mine, is that his work is instantly applicable to his neighbors and local environment; how effectively his results are applied is another question.