The project is lagging behind its originally intended schedule, however we still feel it will meet its objectives by the end of the project.
• The project was delayed due to an unexpected change in graduate students.
• An extension request was granted, changing the end-date from 9/30/14 to 12/31/14, which helped recover time lost in transition. In retrospect additional time beyond 12/31 would have been helpful to continue troubleshooting some of the variance observed.
• While significant progress was made, and many research questions answered, there are still unanswered research questions with the use of Raman that require additional study. Some inconsistency and unexpected results were observed, thought to be explained by:
- Further study of the interaction of light within the sample.
- Further analysis of sample technique and measurement protocol.
• Instrumentation has improved as a result of this effort.