Teaching Nanotechnology at the Community College Level

fn1_1a_program_cr.ppt fn1_lg_01_cr.docI am going to try to do a blog on activities I do in teaching Nanotechnology at the community college. I have been teaching Nanotechnology at Chippewa Valley Technical College CVTC in Eau Claire, Wisconsin USA for four years now. I began by teaching a high school exploratory class in the fall of 2004 and started the two year associate degree in January 2005.The degree consists of three thrust areas: Microfabrication and semiconductor manufacturing, materials characterization and nanomaterials, and biotechnology.The program classes are as follows:Semester 1: Intro to Nanoscience (3 cr) Intro to Microfabrication (3 cr)Semester 2: Cell Biology (4 cr) Nanoelectronics (3 cr)Semester 3: Quality control in Nanomanufacturing (3 cr), Nanomaterials (3 cr), Nanobiotechnology (3 cr), Micro and Nanofabrication (4 cr)Semester 4: MEMS (4 cr), Princ and Applications of Nanobiotechnology (3 cr), Materials characterization (4 cr)Industry Internship or Independent Study (1 cr)The prerequisites for this program are one semester each of high school Algebra, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. These courses are also offered at the CVTC campus.This program was modeled after programs offered at Penn State and Dakota County Technical College. North Dakota State is offering a similar program and Harper College in Illinois is starting a similar program this Fall (2008).So the question I faced 4 years ago was given approximately 35 credits of Nanoscience what do you put in to make the program meaningful and produce technicians that are prepared for the nanoscience industry. I still have many questions but I will go over what I do with the hope that others will contribute some of what they do in their classes to make this a meaningful degree. In the nature of the Blog I will try to post activities we do each day and desribe how they went.

I am actually enrolled in a community college nanoscience program.

I am very aware of two things which are extremely important.

1. These "technical" level nanotech degrees are what is going to allow countries the work force to really get nanotech/nanoscience movement going.

2. Within the right community, general principles about nanotech and the standardization of fabrication procedures is all that is needed to increase the throughput of any nanotech lab.

This is a very important time period right now... The funding has exploded this year at my college and we are even beginning community (high school/middle school) outreach from the Community College level.

The coolest part about it all is that the curriculum is not yet standardized which leaves a lot of room for peer to peer interaction and development.

Our college's nanotech facility is equipped with 4 furnaces, a sputterer, UHV capability and SEM/STM (very nice) equipment. Plus we have access to all of the organic/inorganic labs which are already at the community college.

What we really need to do is start during the second year to get students actually creating useful nanostructures. It is one thing to learn general principles and do some "course required" labs, but it is another thing to actually get interested and start producing nanostructures. However, the question of funding these endeavors does come to mind.

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Comments

Hans Mikelson February 23, 2010 at 11:28pm

Nice facility!
Kyle Milliken November 6, 2009 at 4:46am

I am actually enrolled in a community college nanoscience program.

I am very aware of two things which are extremely important.

1. These "technical" level nanotech degrees are what is going to allow countries the work force to really get nanotech/nanoscience movement going.

2. Within the right community, general principles about nanotech and the standardization of fabrication procedures is all that is needed to increase the throughput of any nanotech lab.

This is a very important time period right now... The funding has exploded this year at my college and we are even beginning community (high school/middle school) outreach from the Community College level.

The coolest part about it all is that the curriculum is not yet standardized which leaves a lot of room for peer to peer interaction and development.

Our college's nanotech facility is equipped with 4 furnaces, a sputterer, UHV capability and SEM/STM (very nice) equipment. Plus we have access to all of the organic/inorganic labs which are already at the community college.

What we really need to do is start during the second year to get students actually creating useful nanostructures. It is one thing to learn general principles and do some "course required" labs, but it is another thing to actually get interested and start producing nanostructures. However, the question of funding these endeavors does come to mind.
Raghavendran T E May 24, 2009 at 7:36am

dear Hans, is there a masters degree offered in your college? I am about to complete my undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering....
Raghavendran T E May 24, 2009 at 7:06am

dear Hans, is there a masters degree offered in your college? I am about to complete my undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering....
Hans Mikelson September 4, 2008 at 3:41pm

We have a fully equipped clean room for photolithography applications. For physical vapor deposition we have a used sputter deposition system which we purchased from the University of Minnesota. I can also demonstrate the principles of physical vapor deposition with the specimen sputter coater for our SEM which has all of the basic components. These specimen sputter coaters can be found for much cheaper than a wafer sputter coater and they include the same basic compoenents: Vacuum pump, power supply, plasma chamber, targets.
Hans Mikelson September 4, 2008 at 3:37pm

About 1/3 of my students go on for a four year degree. The other 2/3 enter the work place. Most of those entering the work place have been involved in clean room work or SEM work.

UW Stout has strong articulation with us so that the student can get a four year degree in about 2.5 years after their associates degree.

Some other schools the articulation is not as strong. Students who transfer to UW River Falls for the Biotechnology program are pretty close but the need to pick up some organic chemistry early on which serves as a prerequisite to many of the classes.

I would look at several four year schools near you and see how well your program articulates with theirs. I had to make a number of changes in the general education requirements in order to closely match the courses the schools would accept for credit.

I teach the same thing to all of the students. Those who are just interested in entering the work force have to come up to speed in science and math too. My first nano classes are probably not as rigorous as for example a first semester chemistry class at a four year school.
Idah September 4, 2008 at 5:50am

could you please explaine whether you have the practical classes for teaching how to creat a very thin layer,nano, or only theorical classes. Because I worked by coating machine about 15 years and I can put nano-material on substratume. I is named physical vapor deposition.
Samuel Levenson September 3, 2008 at 5:29pm

Just starting to teach the program at Harper College, I'd like to hear your ideas on how to serve students aiming at entering the work force after 2 years vs. those going on for a four year degree. I am struggling a little trying to have the same program serve both well.
TINC September 2, 2008 at 9:27pm

Thanks for your answer! I think, you can add your first comment about the first lessions also as a blogpost! In next days i create a direct link in top menu to your blog, so the reader can easy find...
Hans Mikelson September 2, 2008 at 9:25pm

I give each student a name and have them go on computers and find out about them on the internet. If they have trouble I help them. I used to teach this part just by telling them about who the different people were and what they did but I wanted them to be more involved so they don't get bored. It works out pretty well this way.

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