About
Research Instrumentation and Technical Support Laboratory
The Research Instrumentation and Support (RITS) Laboratory is a shared instrumentation facility housing instrumentation for chemical analysis and materials characterization. Our mission is to provide instrumentation, training, and technical support to enable cutting-edge research for emerging scientists and engineers.
The lab specializes in analysis of:
- Structure
- Composition
- Morphology
- Contaminants and trace elements
- Particle size distribution
- Surface charge
- Thermal stability
- Catalyst load
- Analyte concentration
- UV-vis absorption spectrum
Established in 2017, RITS began as an experiment within the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering to determine if the centralization of some equipment resources could provide added benefit for the department’s researchers. Today RITS has evolved far beyond that, housing more than a dozen instruments and serving over 100 researchers annually from across the University of Calgary, external nonprofits, and private industry in Western Canada.
Our Team
Dr. Giovanniantonio Natale
Faculty Director
Giovanni is the Faculty Director of RITS, and Associate Head of Research and professor in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering. Before coming to the University of Calgary, Dr. Natale was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia. In the group of Prof. S. Hatzikiriakos, he worked on the dynamics of self-propelling particles in complex fluids. Dr. Natale holds a PhD from École Polytechnique de Montréal under the supervision of Prof. P.J. Carreau, M.C. Heuzey and J. Férec (from Université de Bretagne-Sud). There, he studied the rheology of rod-like particles suspensions and specifically, carbon nanotube suspensions. Since 2021, Dr. Natale is the elected vice president of the Canadian Society of Rheology.
Dr. Melissa Wette
Lab Manager
Melissa is the manager of RITS and is responsible for overseeing all lab operations, including finance, facilities, instrumentation, and safety. Prior to joining University of Calgary, she worked as a research scientist in the aerospace industry where she led materials characterization labs and research in graphene-based membranes. She holds a MS and PhD from Stanford University in Materials Science and Engineering where her research focused on synthesis and advanced characterization of electrocatalytic nanomaterials, and a BS in Nanoengineering from the University of California, San Diego.
Ola Jabar
Technician
Ola is the senior technician for RITS, and is responsible for user training, sample analysis, and instrument maintenance. One of the founding members of RITS, Ola has broad background in analytical techniques from her prior work in the petrochemical industry. Ola holds a diploma in Chemical Technology from SAIT.