Bottom-Up Meets Top-Down - An Integrated Undergraduate Nanotechnology Laboratory at NC State

North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of this Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) in Engineering program at North Carolina State University (NCSU) entitled "NUE: Bottom-Up Meets Top-Down-An Integrated Undergraduate Nanotechnology Laboratory at NC State", under the direction of Dr. Yong Zhu, is to develop an undergraduate Nanotechnology laboratory course, consisting of 10 portable lab modules, in the College of Engineering at NCSU that will provide undergraduate students with hands-on experience in nanotechnology. The theme of this project is the integration of nanotechnology with microsystem technology, i.e., bottom-up synthesis meeting top-down fabrication. It will bridge the "pillars" of nanotechnology-nanomaterials, nanofabrication, nanoscale characterization and nanodevices. Over 500 undergraduate students at NCSU are expected to be affected by the new lab course and the integration of lab modules to existing nanotechnology courses. Overall this NUE project will encourage more U.S. students to pursue graduate study related to nanotechnology and to train a workforce for the emerging nanotechnology industry. Results of this project will be disseminated to local, regional, and national education communities, both during and after the project. Of note is that regionally the results and educational modules will be shared with K-12 educators at the NC Science Teachers Association and through NCSU's NanoDays.