PSU Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization

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NSF Advanced Technology Education (ATE) Center
Regional Center for Nanofabrication Manufacturing Education

Creating educational programs and pathways to nanofabrication careers in Pennsylvania

The Center for Natnotechnology Education and Utilization (CNEU) is home to the National Science Foundation (NSF) Regional Center for Nanofabrication Manufacturing Education. This NSF Advanced Technology Education (ATE) Center involves more than 30 institutions of higher education, secondary schools, private industry, and others in a joint effort to meet the expanding needs of Pennsylvania industry for skilled nanofabrication workers particularly at the associate degree level. The key feature of the Center is its emphasis on hands-on laboratory experience. This hands-on experience is incorporated into associate degree programs in nanofabrication offered by every Pennsylvania community college, technical colleges, and Penn State campuses across the state, K-12 outreach programs, and baccalaureate-level concentrations and minors in nanotechnology at public universities across Pennsylvania. In addition, 2+2+2 pathways linking these programs, plus robust professional development programs for educators and industry personnel have been established by the Center.

This ATE Regional Center for Nanofabrication Manufacturing Education is governed by six topical working committees addressing administration, articulation, course and program development, professional development, program funding, and student recruitment. The membership of these committees comes from the 30 member institutions. A representative of a community college or a State System of Higher Education (SSHE) university chairs each committee. In addition to the working committees, the Center relies upon a variety of other information exchange and oversight mechanisms to enhance management and coordination, including an industry advisory board, bi-monthly electronic bulletins, semi-annual meetings of all Center partners, an annual conference, special topic meetings, quarterly reporting by all Center partners, and a National Visiting Committee which meets annually.

The Center Builds Programs and Provided Resources by Offering

Hands-on laboratory experiences for students:The 18-credit capstone semester in nanofabrication is taught at the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility
Nanotechnology course and program development: Every community college in Pennsylvania now offers an associate degree in nanofabrication.
Student recruitment materials: Videos, displays, and brochures complement three-day summer "Nanotech Camps" for secondary students at Penn State.
Articulated 2+2+2 educational pathways: Pathways from secondary schools throug associate degrees to baccalaureate degrees and beyond are in place.
Job placement services for students: Nanofabrication job fairs are held every semester at Penn State for community college students.
Professional development workshops for educators: Educators learn about nanotechnology and help develop learning tools for use in their classrooms.
Nanotechnology instructional materials: Efforts focus on developing hands-on nanotechnology laboratory experiences for use by community colleges.

The Center's Impact

1	The Center Prepares Faculty
	The Center prepares faculty members from community colleges across Pennsylvania to incorporate nanotechnology into courses and programs at their home institutions.

2	Faculty
	The Center has provided professional development workshops in nanofabrication for faculty members since inception. More than 300 educators from institutions across Pennsylvania have attended these workshops to date. Faculty members not only learn principles of nanotechnology, but help design nanotechnology laboratory experiments and other instructional materials for use in their classrooms at their home institutions.

3	Employees
	The Center has provided professional development workshops for industry personnel since inception. More than 235 industry representatives have attended these workshops to date, representing a range of sectors including electronics, information storage, chemical processing, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and many others. The Center is helping industry leaders understand how nanotechnology will change their businesses and prepare to use nanotechnology to improve competitiveness.

4	Students
	The Center offers an 18-credit, hands-on capstone semester in nanofabrication. These 18 credits are incorporated into associate degree programs in nanofabrication at every community college in Pennsylvania. Industry partners consistently highlight the breadth of the educational experience and the hands-on nature of the capstone semester in explaining what makes graduates so valuable.

5	Employers
	More than 25 different nanotechnology companies have hired nanofabrication program graduates to date. These employers report that the graduates' understanding the entire nanofabrication process, and their hands-on experience, make them unusually well prepared for nanofabrication work. In addition, an unexpected benefit for many of these companies is that because the graduates are so familiar with the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility, they are ideally suited to return to the facility to perform nanotechnology research projects for their employer.

Pennsylvania Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology (NMT) Partnership

The Pennsylvania Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology (NMT) Partnership is a higher education collaborative dedicated to creating and updating a workforce in Pennsylvania trained in the exciting field of nanotechnology. The NMT academic programs are offered by partner institutions and include associate degree , baccalaureate degree , and certificate pathways to an education in nanotechnology. These pathways can open the door to well-paying careers in a variety of industries such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, micro-electromechanical devices (MEMs), opto-electronics, sensors, information storage, power electronics and, of course, microelectronics (chips). The NMT “updating” activities include workshops for industry and for teachers as well as Nanotech Camps for secondary school students.

How the NMT Partnership Works

The defining feature of the partnership is the sharing of the nanofabrication facilities, staff, and faculty at the Penn State University Park Campus with educational partners across the Commonwealth.

These NMT educational partners include:

All the activities and programs of the NMT Partnership are coordinated by the Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization (CNEU) at the Penn State University Park campus.

Sponsors: National Nanatechnology Infrastructure Network and National Science Foundation © 2007 Penn State University Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization
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