Why Attend the
Capstone Semester?
What Our Students Say
“While finishing the NMT program, I was able to interview with a few companies. The NMT program really helped set me on a path upwards, so I’m grateful for my time there.”
“For electrical engineers and people that have that background it’s [nanotechnology] definitely a satisfaction that you won’t be able to get from just electrical engineering. There is so much insight into how components are made.”
“I am an R&D Engineer at the Penn State Applied Research Laboratory (ARL). I was a student in the NMT program in the spring of 2014. Since then, I have worked at a few places, including ARL for several years while completing my B.S. degree in Materials Science and Engineering (MatSE) at Penn State University. I am now pursuing my Ph.D. part-time while working here. The NMT program laid the foundation for the first 10 years of my career, and I continue to leverage skills and knowledge gained through the program each day!”
“I just finished my first week of work at Micron, and I wanted to thank you for all you’ve taught me over the years. This week has been all training and almost all of it was covered in the capstone semester. In addition to the technical details, the anecdotes Terry told us about fab practices and safety are very similar to what I’m hearing here. I believe my time at Penn State prepared me exceptionally well for a career in nanofabrication. It was by far the most important semester of all my time in college.”
“I really recommend this program for anybody who is taking any technical degree because it is very helpful…I had no idea about nanotechnology before I went up there [to the Capstone Semester] and I learned a lot. I think it was a very valuable experience for me.”
Videos
Marc Eckhart
Spring 2015
Harrisburg University
Kathleen Trumbull
Summer 2003
Penn State Dubois
Zachary Gray
Summer 2007
Reading Area Community College
What Industry Says
“We haven’t tapped into all of the possibilities of what we can use nanomaterials for and we haven’t created all of the possible nanomaterials yet, so there are going to be exciting new companies, exciting new products, and exciting new services…the nanotechnology industry is going to grow and grow and grow.”
“Having a resource where students gain experience day one in a cleanroom is invaluable. It’s still a very expensive prospect to hire someone new even with that background. But without it, it would make it that much more difficult.”
“We have hired students from the NMT program before and they always prove to be some of our best workers.”
“Students are trained in environments and with equipment that is specifically used in nanotechnology; indeed, they are able to operate and repair equipment that most four-year and advanced degree STEM graduates would have had little or no exposure to in their educational experience.”
2009 Videos About the Program
Additional Testimonials
Michel Denny
Spring 2008
Delaware County Community College
“I went to Villanova University and graduated with a bachelor’s in chemistry and biochemistry. Then I found myself not really knowing what I wanted to do next, so I took some time off and I traveled a little bit. Then I saw a flyer for this program and I went to hear the lecture. I actually ended up signing up for the program that night.”
Zachary Gray
Summer 2007
Reading Area Community College
“I found out about the NMT program by going to my undergraduate advisor. At the time I was an undeclared student and she described the NMT program to me. As soon as she mentioned the hands on semester up at Penn State that was required for that particular degree, I was instantly sold.”
Brandon Harris
Spring 2008
PA College of Technology
“When I first came here and saw the equipment. . . I was a little overwhelmed, but once you get in there and once you start learning what the equipment is really used for and what the people in there are doing you find out that it’s still really cool but not as crazy as it seemed.”
Justin Ingram
Summer 2005
Lock Haven University of PA
“I developed sensors to measure two different types of analytes. They measure oxygen and potassium and both of those analytes are very important in seizure generation. Whenever you have a seizure your oxygen decreases and potassium increases and we’re trying to measure that. Nobody knows really how much it is increasing or decreasing, so I am creating these little nanosensors.”
Nazanin Sharifi
Spring 2008
Penn State York
“I heard a presentation about the nanotech program at my school and I got really interested. I especially liked to hear about how nanotechnology can be useful in the field of biology. I didn’t know what part of science I wanted to work in and nanotechnology really appealed to me because it helped me see what opportunities were out there.”
Amanda Tomlin
Spring 2008
Community College of Philadelphia
“You get an opportunity to use more instruments and do more research than at a community college. We made a solar cell recently in one of our labs and I thought that was very interesting. I’ve never made a solar cell, so being able to make certain things like that and to use those instruments was really valuable.”