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Some members of the research community view crystal structure analysis as being 'too easy', and they have challenged the value of crystallographic results as being irrelevant beyond the solid state, despite numerous examples to the contrary. Crystallography is a field that borders on many other disciplines, and it provides enabling technology, methodology and information. Crystallography is also a key underpinning of post-genomic science. Crystallography is not so easy and routine that anyone can do it, and do it right. However, with solid experimental (not just theoretical) training in the fundamentals, good crystallography (and accurate molecular models) can be achieved. The W.M. Keck Foundation Center for Molecular Structure (CMolS) at California State University Fullerton is a comprehensive x-ray crystallographic and computational facility located in a predominantly undergraduate institution. CMolS is a core facility of the California State University Program for Research and Education in Biotechnology, where faculty and primarily undergraduate student investigators throughout the 23-campus CSU are engaged in joint research and education activities directed at the determination and critical analysis of both small and macromolecular structures. CMolS has begun to uniquely address a post-genomic workforce demand for individuals suitably trained in x-ray crystallographic methods. Faculty and students may conduct experiments in distant classrooms and laboratories through our remote access data acquisition system, with the ability to access shared data files and laboratory materials in the form of online lab manuals, courseware, interactive tutorials, and reporting templates. at the Fullerton campus, we have developed and implemented x-ray diffraction experiments at all levels of the curriculum. CMolS hosts an annual three-day short course, entitled 'Crystallography for Chemists', which is attended by faculty, graduate students, and members of industry. Our efforts have lead to inspiring collaborations in molecular structure and made possible highly specialized training and research despite local geographical and financial limitations. Computer-aided quantum mechanical approach is now a powerful tool for investigating various material properties in the field of crystal growth. The availability of the quantum mechanical approach is demonstrated by exemplifying GaAs epitaxial growth and extracting crucial factor for the growth mechanism. The complicated epitaxial growth processes for GaAs are simplified by considering the number of electrons DZ remaining in the surface Ga dangling bonds. The quantum mechanical calculations imply that the elemental growth processes such as migration, adsorption and desorption energies of Ga and As are simply described as CDZ, where C is constant. According to the simple function of DZ, it is found that the migration, adsorption and desorption processes are promoted by decrease of the DZ resulting from charge transfer from surface Ga to As dangling bonds. This is because the dangling...