Education nanotechnology

J.L. Feather and M.F. Azner, Nanotechnology Education and Workforce Development, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FI, 2011. ISBN 9781420053944. 

One of the project groups that we supervised in the academic year, 2006-2007, in the nanotechnology educational program provides a particularly good example of this cultural approach in action. The course on (nano)technology, humanity and... 

Workshops, symposia, conferences, and panels have been held to discuss best practices for nanotechnology education. Slowly, texts are beginning to siuface that address teaching these concepts at the undergraduate level, (d, 7) All of these efforts are part of the attempt to increase the emphasis on nanoscience concepts in our educational systems. 

Dr. Ron Blonder worked as the chemistry coordinator and the director of the Belmonte Science Laboratories centre for high school students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is now a senior researcher in chemistry education at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel). She is engaged in research in science education focusing on chemistry and nanotechnology education and professional development of chemistry teachers. 

Much of the excitement over nanotechnology lies in the new science that is being discovered and the new tools that allow us to manipulate matter at the nanoscale, including individual atoms. A website has been established through a National Science Foundation-supported Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to help move these ideas into educational and outreach venues (2). A video laboratory manual is available on the website that provides step-by-step instructions in the form of videoclips. 

Ultimately, the integration of research and education is a community responsibility that can benefit from broad participation of faculty and co-workers at a variety of stages of professional development. With its broad and fundamental sweep, physical chemistry is an excellent platform for such an effort. The inclusion of examples from other disciplines and multidisciplinary fields like nanotechnology can enrich the physical chemistry curriculum and keep it perennially fresh and exciting for both instructors and students. 

Educational resources for nanotechnology are available on the web at URL http //www.mrsec.wisc.edu/nano. 

SOURCE Smestad, G.P. M. Gratzel. 1998. Demonstrating electron transfer and nanotechnology A natural dye-sensitized nanocrystalline energy converter. J. Chem. Educ. 75 752-756. 

The NanoTechnology Group, Inc. (Nanoscience educational outreach. Wells, TX) http //www.thenanotechnologygroup.org/... 

Chemistry of Coordination Space, No. 180330 , Synergy of Elements, No. 190270 , and Photochromism, No. 20044010 and by the Grant-in-Aids No. 1635002 and Nanotechnology Support Project from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan. This work was also supported in part by funds from the Tokuyama Science Foundation . 

Intensive workshops covered the following topics Environment Air and Water Quality, Science Education and Green Chemistry, Medicinal and Natural Products, Nanotechnology and Materials Science and Alternative Energy Sources. Each of the workshops came up with Future Action Plans. 

Acknowledgements. We appreciate fruitful discussion with Rebemik Ribic and S. Stanic. The work was financed in part by the Ministry of higher education, science and technology under the research program PI-0040, and by the Center of excellence Nanosciences and Nanotechnology . We are in debt to L. Sorba and E. Di Fabrizio for assistance in lithographic process. 

This work was supported in parts by the Ministry of Education of Belarus, Belarusian State Program Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies (grant 6.18), Foundation of Basic Research of Belarus (project F05K-140) and NoE Phoremost. 

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